


Ladyship drabble collection

by ShinjiShazaki



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, often nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 14:04:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinjiShazaki/pseuds/ShinjiShazaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Works taken from prompts requested on my tumblr, updated as I work on the backlog between stories.  Full to the brim of ladyships and only ladyships.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Colds v1.0

**Author's Note:**

> Could you do a cliche of Mikasa with a cold and Annie takes care of her?

“You are completely pathetic,” said Annie.

From her position buried under a light blanket and a cool-pack on her head, Mikasa looked up at Annie with a gaze that mixed bleariness and sourness. She coughed into her elbow and said, “It’s not like I could help getting sick.”

“You could’ve let Eren take care of himself.”

“He had a fever of one hundred and three. Armin said he was hallucinating.”

“Fine, but you could’ve washed your hands better or _something_. I can’t believe you’re this sick.”

Mikasa smiled. “You’re _worried_ about me, aren’t you.”

“I am,” Annie said frankly. “What if I have to drive you to the ER because you get a fever even worse than Eren’s? Who wouldn’t be scared of that?”

Mikasa coughed again and gave a great sniff. “I’ll be fine. We just have to keep me cool.”

“But aren’t you uncomfortable like this? Whenever I got a fever as a kid I would go and steal all the blankets from my father’s closet because I was so cold.”

“I’m cold, but—” She had no time to continue before Annie had gotten off of her chair and ducked down under their bed. In seconds, she was back on her feet with a heavier blanket, and she flipped it open and draped it over Mikasa. Mikasa stared at her.

“What?” Annie asked.

She smiled again. “Nothing. Thank you.”

“I’m going to go make you soup.”

“Really?”

“You wrote down all your recipes. I know my way around the kitchen.”

“I know you do, but I wasn’t expecting you to go as far as this.”

“I can take care of my girlfriend.” She checked the coolness of the pack and flipped it over on top of its towel before pressing the backs of her fingers below Mikasa’s ear. “You seem a little cooler. Stay under your blanket.”

“Would you get me a book?”

Without answering, Annie went to the bookcase across from the bed, picked up the book Mikasa had laid on a shelf the night before, and ferried it back. She left Mikasa reading in bed, and returned some time later with two bowls of soup. They ate together, and Mikasa drifted off to sleep after Annie went off to clean up after herself. Annie returned to their bedroom, rearranged Mikasa to be more under the blankets despite her sleepy, muddled grumbling, and closed the blinds tightly to give her as dark a room as was possible in the middle of the day.

When Mikasa shuffled out of the bedroom later that evening with the blankets pulled tight around her shoulder, Annie let her put her head in her lap, and they watched an old movie in silence with Annie stroking Mikasa’s hair.


	2. Cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about MikaAni getting a cat that adores Mikasa, but absolutely loathes Annie and vice versa? Sorry I'm not very good with cliches and the only other idea I have is Annie getting hammered and sitting in a kiddy-pool while ranting to a stray animal about how hard life is.

Mikasa had often told Annie stories about wanting a pet as a child, but her both her birth and adoptive parents had such wretched allergies that animals had never been allowed. Given that Annie herself had never owned a pet in her life, it was in an attempt to make Mikasa happy after she moved into Annie’s large apartment that they went to the local animal shelter one weekend. She stood to one side as Mikasa wandered the cat area, smiling slightly at the sheer pleasure in her face.

Mikasa was enraptured by the kittens in particular, standing for minutes on end at one cage or another to let the kittens play with the strings on the end of her scarf. It was twenty minutes on that Mikasa finally stopped at one cage low and in the corner and gestured for Annie to come closer. Annie found that the kitten of choice was solid black with massive gold eyes, and it purred loudly enough that Annie could hear it at a distance.

“That one’s cute,” Annie said.

Mikasa smiled as she scratched under the kitchen’s chin. It closed its eyes in bliss and shoved its head into her hand. She said, “What should we name him?”

“Don’t they come pre-named?”

Mikasa looked at her with a raised brow. “I don’t think either of us want to call our cat ‘Bob.’”

“No.” She shrugged. “You pick.”

It was a long time that Mikasa thought, and clearly thought hard. Annie watched the intense look on her face with amusement, hands tucked in the front pocket of her hoodie. The kitten mewed at Mikasa, swiping at her scarf as she silently looked at him.

“Ailuros,” Mikasa said suddenly.

Annie stared. “What?”

“Let’s call him Ailuros.”

“How did you come up with that?”

“Armin loaned me a book once about the relationship the Greeks and the Egyptians had, and the Greek word for ‘cat’ is ‘ailuros.’”

Annie snickered. “Okay, I like it. I’d call him that.”

“Should we adopt him?”

“You like him, right?”

“I really do.

“Then we should get him.” She went to fetch a shelter volunteer so Mikasa could continue playing with the kitten. A few minutes later, they were filling out paperwork and purchasing a license. They went on to a pet store, and Annie carried Ailuros around in his cardboard carrier while Mikasa filled a cart with everything the volunteer had said they would need. They hurried home with the carrier in Mikasa’s lap while Annie drove, and they sequestered themselves in the bedroom.

Ailuros jumped out of the carrier immediately when Mikasa popped it open, looking around with a wide-eyed, confused stare. He cried briefly at Mikasa, going to her and crawling into her lap. He perched himself on her knee and looked around again, starting to sniff the air. She stroked his back until he tentatively got down from her knee and started to make a circuit around the room.

Annie stood up and took the water fountain into the bath off the bedroom, reading the instructions as Mikasa followed Ailuros around the room. She set up the fountain on a plastic mat, setting out a dish of dry food as well. By then, Ailuros had made his way around the room, and he startled at Annie coming out of the bathroom with a large cup of water. He hissed at her, puffing up his fur. Annie raised a brow at him, and he shuffled backward until he came close to Mikasa.

“I think you just surprised him,” said Mikasa.

“I think he hates me,” said Annie.

Though Mikasa protested, Annie felt she was right as the days passed and Ailuros continued to hiss and puff up into a ball on seeing her. She did not go out of her way to endear herself to him, only feeding him at mealtimes and filling his water because it would be cruel to not do so.

Any attempt to give each other a wide berth was ruined by the fact that they both gravitated to Mikasa. If Ailuros jumped up on the couch during a movie, he yowled at the sight of Annie curled up against Mikasa’s side. If Annie sought to join Mikasa on the bed for a nap on the weekend, she had to check for where Ailuros had stretched out against Mikasa lest she be hissed at.

Given that she and Mikasa worked similar hours, Annie was never left alone with Ailuros for too long. After a time, she fell into the habit of hanging back at the door when they came in to let Ailuros see Mikasa first. He waited at the door for her, after all, and he jumped straight onto her shoulder when she crouched down for him. Weeks on, Annie found herself smiling when Mikasa slowly stood up with Ailuros balancing on her shoulder, and he did not hiss at her when he noticed her.

It happened some time in the winter, three months later. It had been a grueling week for Annie, and she gladly took the opportunity to fall upon the couch when they returned home from errands and drop dead asleep. When she woke again, the room was dark with lowered blinds, and quiet with Mikasa sitting reading in the armchair. Because she felt a weight down her front, she lifted her head and looked down.

Ailuros was stretched full out on the length of her torso, completely asleep and looking blissful. Annie tilted her head to look at Mikasa. “Did you put him on me?”

To answer, Mikasa picked up her phone from the coffee table and started a video she had taken. Annie watched her sleeping self and Ailuros sitting by the couch staring up at her. He turned toward the camera and mewled. Mikasa said, “Go ahead,” and he hopped up onto the couch. He slowly sat down, sniffing Annie’s chin before sinking down to his stomach. The video ended with the sound of Mikasa giggling and the image shaking slightly.

“He sat there crying for a while before I got my phone and told him to jump,” said Mikasa.

“Why didn’t you just put him in your lap?”

“I tried to get him to come to me, but he wanted to be on you.”

Annie held down the urge to sigh because she thought it would wake him. Lightly, she scratched his head. He began to purr in his sleep. Annie smiled, and her smile deepened when Mikasa leaned down to kiss her.


	3. Cold v2.0

“I’m not drinking that.”

Christa looked at the bottle of nyquil in her hand. “Are you serious?”

“It tastes like ass.”

“Oh my God, you’re completely serious.”

“It tastes like ass!” Ymir repeated in a voice utterly ruined, and she bent double to cough noisily into her knees.

“You have to take _something_ ,” Christa said. “You sound like you’re dying.” She sat down beside Ymir on the bed, rubbing her back. “Come on, I bought this one because it works on coughing and sore throats. Just take some.”

“I’d rather cough out a lung.” She coughed again, longer and worse than before. She remained bent double with her brow to her knees; Christa could see her massaging her throat.

“Ymir, _please_. You could rip up your throat if you don’t stop coughing.”

Frowning, Ymir pulled the blanket up over her head and rolled onto her side to face away from Christa. “No.”

Undeterred, Christa reached under the blanket to press her wrist to Ymir’s forehead. “And you have a fever, too. It’s just one little drink. I’ll get you water and something else to drink right after.

Ymir was silent for a long while. “Even soda?”

“The carbonation would probably make your throat hurt worse, but if that’s what it takes to get you to take some medicine.”

More silence ensued. Ymir eventually grumbled, “I hate being sick.”

Christa rubbed her back again, even gentler than before. “I know.”

“Do I _have_ to take that shit?”

“If you want to feel a little better and actually sleep tonight.”

Unable to sigh through her nose for how congested it was and unwilling to make much noise against her throat, Ymir took her time in pulling down the blanket from her head and shoulders. She looked at Christa over her shoulder. “Promise it’ll help?”

Christa smiled and let out a breath of laughter. She brushed Ymir’s sweat-dampened hair away from her face. “I promise.” She put the bottle down and heaved Ymir upright. “Hang on for a second and I’ll get water.”

Ymir, keeping the blanket pulled up over her chest, scooted backward until her back was against the wall. Christa left the room, leaving the bottle behind for Ymir to scowl at. She returned presently with a large glass of water, and opened the plastic seal on the medicine. She poured out a cap full of nyquil and gave it to Ymir. Ymir took a full minute of staring at the red liquid before she was able to tip the whole of the medicine into her mouth and swallow it down. She shuddered violently at the taste, letting her tongue hang out of her mouth.

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Christa said, taking the cap back. “You’re such a baby.”

“Am not,” Ymir said. She took the water and drank it greedily to the last drop. She gave the glass back and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“It helped a little already, didn’t it? You were able to drink without scrunching up your face the whole time.”

Ymir stuck her tongue out in response and received a quick and gentle smack in the face by her pillow. Still, she smiled wearily at Christa when the pillow was put down. “Can I go to sleep now?”

“Sure.” She started to stand, but Ymir caught her by the wrist. She smiled at her and said, “Let me get something to read and then I’ll be right back.”

Ymir let her go, watching the door until she returned with a book in hand. They arranged themselves neatly, Ymir stretched out under the blanket with her head on her pillow and Christa sitting curled up near her head. Ymir fell asleep promptly, and Christa rolled her over when she snored too loudly.


	4. an afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this post on tumblr.](http://openup-yourlegs.tumblr.com/post/62493920574/i-didnt-peg-you-as-that-kind-of-girl-annie)

It wasn’t that Annie didn’t know how they got there. She knew perfectly well. Mikasa had a libido that could only be described as “raging,” but she made an effort to always let Annie know when she was in the mood. She would drop hints, subtle and obvious; she would run her fingers up the length of Annie’s spine; and most of all, she would simply ask by whispering in Annie’s ear. She did not press the matter when Annie did not want to have sex, but more often than not Annie was happy to go along for the ride.

After all, saying yes was how they had come to this point.

It had started the evening before in bed, just before Annie turned out the light to go to sleep. Mikasa had burrowed up against her back, kissing her neck gently.

“Can we?” Mikasa asked.

“Tomorrow,” Annie replied, voice muddled with sleepiness. She turned out the light and settled, happy with the warmth Mikasa gave by enfolding her in her arms.

“Can I surprise you?” Mikasa asked.

Annie hummed positively before sleep took her, and fully remembered the conversation when she woke. Mikasa was still wrapped firmly around her, though she was awake when Annie looked over her shoulder. She smiled on seeing Annie awake, touching a kiss to her cheek before getting out of bed. Annie followed her, waiting for the moment that Mikasa would turn and pin her to the wall. It did not come before they made and ate breakfast, and it did not come immediately after. It did not come when Annie was in the shower, or when she was getting dressed. It did not come before they went to run their weekend errands, nor did it come when they arrived home.

It came instead when Annie was alone at the dining table, reading the newspaper they had gotten at the grocery store. Mikasa had gone to find a book to read, or so she had said. The amount of time she was gone was the hint Annie was waiting for, and she read the news with a small smile as she waited. At Mikasa cupping her throat with a gentle hand, she lifted her head and looked over her shoulder.

“Took you long enough,” she said.

“I said I’d surprise you. I didn’t say when.” She caught Annie’s ear in her teeth and tugged gently before saying, “Stand up.”

As Annie did so, Mikasa reached past her to fold the paper shut and toss it aside. She then pulled the chair away, stepping in close and wrapping her arms around Annie. Because she had stepped in, Annie could feel something press up against her ass.

“You’re usually faster when you put that on,” Annie remarked, pushing her hips back against Mikasa and the strap-on.

“I didn’t know you timed me.” She slipped her hands up Annie’s hooded shirt, reaching under her bra to play with her breasts. “I’ll do better next time.” Annie hummed and started to turn, but Mikasa’s hands fell to her hips to hold her still. When she stopped moving, Mikasa undid her belt and the fly to her jeans. Her hands went back under Annie’s shirt, pushing her to lean against her chest.

Annie stretched her arms up and over her head, lacing her fingers together behind Mikasa’s neck. It made her arch slightly into Mikasa’s hands, and she closed her eyes as Mikasa rolled her nipples between thumb and forefinger. When Mikasa nudged at her thighs with a knee, she parted her legs and let Mikasa put her leg between them. Mikasa rocked against her, and she moaned softly.

Mikasa took a hand from Annie’s shirt to pull her arm down and give herself a path to Annie’s neck. Moving past the bunched material of her hood, she peppered her skin with kisses and soft bites. Only when Annie moaned louder than before was she satisfied, and she reached down between Annie’s legs to curl her fingers in the wetness she found there. Annie leaned more heavily against her, grinding faintly on her thigh and digging her fingers into the back of Mikasa’s neck.

It was nothing to slip two fingers inside of Annie then, and Mikasa rocked her fingers in and out slowly to hear a faint whine build in the back of Annie’s throat. By the time her head fell against Mikasa’s chest, Annie was trembling and twitching. Mikasa kissed her cheek and took her fingers away to pull Annie’s jeans and panties down around her thighs. From there, she put a hand on the back of Annie’s neck and pushed gently until Annie was facedown on the table. She smiled at Annie when she looked at her, eyes wide and face crimson, and nudged her feet further apart.

“You’re kidding, right?” Annie asked.

“Not at all. I told you I’d surprise you.” She leaned down to kiss her on the cheek again, enjoying the heat of her blush against her lips. Straightening, she arranged herself behind Annie. Running her hands once up and down the length of Annie’s back, she lined the strap-on up and pushed into Annie without pausing. Annie closed her eyes tightly, hands pressing hard to the table, and groaned. She put her forehead to the table when Mikasa began to thrust her hips, but she was not allowed this for long. Mikasa took hold of the bun her hair was in with one hand and pulled gently, just enough that Annie lifted her head and panted.

They stopped talking after that, as they always did. They concentrated only on movement and touch. Mikasa rocked her hips hard and fast, and Annie’s toes curled against the carpet as her thighs struck the table. Her loose belt clinked against itself; the open zipper of Mikasa’s jeans scraped against the backs of her thighs and Mikasa’s free hand pressed into her hip. Mikasa’s hand curled tighter in her hair and pulled a little harder. Annie’s nails dug into the table, but found no purchase. She moaned, throaty and low, barely able to push back against Mikasa for how hard Mikasa thrust into her.

Mikasa let go of her hair and her hip to put her hands on top of Annie’s. She laced their fingers together, leaning down to kiss Annie’s ear. Annie held tight to her hands as Mikasa ground against her, and she found it was hard to think. She wanted to bury herself under Mikasa’s chin, to curl around her. Because she could not do this, she pulled Mikasa’s arms in under her, holding one of her hands to her mouth and breathing shakily against it. When Mikasa gently took a hand away, she let her go because she knew her intent.

The first brush of Mikasa’s fingers over her clit made Annie gasp. She put Mikasa’s hand over her mouth not to muffle herself, but to moan against Mikasa’s skin, to desperately kiss her palm. Mikasa rubbed at her harder, faster, until her eyes closed tight and she relied on the table to keep from slumping to the floor. Slowing her pace, Mikasa pushed in deep and hard enough Annie could barely breathe. She did this again and again, fingers moving in swift counterpoint on Annie’s clit.

Running her thumb over Annie’s lips, Mikasa brought her mouth close to Annie’s ear once more to whisper softly in her ear: “Come.” Annie’s breath stopped; her toes curled; she pushed against Mikasa’s hand to get her fingers where she needed them. Mikasa felt her move and followed her, and within seconds Annie let out a cry. She bit down on Mikasa’s hand to stifle the sound building in her throat. Mikasa rode her gently to let her come down slowly, and wrapped her arms around Annie when she released her hand and groaned.

Soon, Annie reached back to push at Mikasa’s stomach. Mikasa drew out of her, and Annie straightened and turned around. She gripped the front of Mikasa’s shirt and pulled her down for an open-mouthed kiss. Wiping her fingers dry on her jeans, Mikasa put her hands in Annie’s hair to hold her. Annie let go of her shirt to reach to Mikasa’s waist, pushing down her jeans to get at the strap-on’s buckles. She undid them quickly, breaking the kiss to make Mikasa step out of her jeans and the straps entirely.

Taking Mikasa by the hand, she led her into the living room and bade her sit in the armchair. Before she sank to the floor, she tasted Mikasa’s mouth and left her breathless. Running her hands on Mikasa’s thighs, opening her legs, Annie found how wet she was. She tugged Mikasa’s hips further forward and kissed the juncture of thigh and hip. Reaching up to Mikasa’s shirt, she pulled her in for another kiss while putting her free hand between Mikasa’s legs.

She moved slowly, stroking the whole of Mikasa’s sex. Mikasa gripped the arms of the chair, and tighter still when Annie pushed two fingers inside her. She leaned back in the chair as Annie drew in and out, rocking her fingers slow and deep and holding Mikasa’s gaze unfailingly. Even when she shifted and brought her mouth level with her sex, she did not look away, and Mikasa kept her eyes open when Annie began to lap at her clit. She took a hand from the chair to remove the pin holding Annie’s hair in mussed place, dropping it to one side. Unimpeded now, she stroked her hand through Annie’s hair and groaned softly at the workings of her tongue.

Only when Mikasa closed her eyes and let her head fall back did Annie look away from her face and focus on her sex. She licked hard before finding Mikasa’s clit and sucking at it. Mikasa’s thigh tensed under her hand; her hand tightened in her hair. Annie relied on these small things and the tiny sounds that Mikasa let slip past her tightly closed lips, taking them as guidance. She built Mikasa slowly, with patience, pausing once or twice to see if her toes had curled before working even harder to make them do so.

It became hard to breathe with her mouth so tightly closed, and so Mikasa parted her lips. She moaned as she did, then grunted when Annie curled her fingers. She angled a leg to press at Annie’s back, and Annie responded by reaching her free arm around to grip the back of Mikasa’s shirt. Mikasa slipped down in the chair, trying to shift her hips closer to Annie. Annie kissed her trembling thighs and moved in again to lick and suck with fervor.

Mikasa’s breath always hitched once, high and sharp, before she came, and Annie savored the sound as much as she did the series of helpless moans that fell from her mouth as she tensed and shook. As Mikasa relaxed, bit by bit, she drew her hand away and rested her elbows on Mikasa’s thighs. She smiled up at Mikasa when she eventually opened her eyes. Letting out a long sigh, Mikasa smiled in return and brushed the hair out of Annie’s eyes.

“Bath?” Annie asked.

“Bath,” Mikasa replied. They both stood gingerly, Mikasa helping Annie from the floor before Annie helped Mikasa from the chair. Hand in hand, they went to the bathroom, and stripped the other of her remaining clothes. While the water warmed, Annie pushed Mikasa against the door to bite and suck at her throat. As the tub filled, they sat on the edge with their feet in the water and Mikasa’s hand rubbing at Annie’s back. Mikasa sat down first when the tub was full enough, and let Annie sit between her legs before leaning against the wall with a sigh.

Though they savored the heat of the water, it was not long at all before they started again. They continued until the water cooled, emptied the tub, and turned on the shower to continue. Only when the hot water had run out did they get out entirely, and by then they both sported teeth marks and bruises. They retired to the bedroom after drying their hair, and they failed completely to sleep for the hours they spent between the sheets.


	5. moving in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where Sasha wants Mikasa to move in with her, but Mikasa hasn't even told Eren she's in a relationship let alone moving out.

“Move in with me?”

Mikasa thought she had misread the words on the page and heard the wrong sentence in her mind, but Sasha put a hand on her thigh and squeezed gently until she looked away from her book. For a few seconds, Mikasa could not process the eager, nervous look on Sasha’s face.

“Did…did you just ask me to move in with you?” she asked.

Relief broke on Sasha’s face. “Oh, thank goodness, you were listening.”

“But did you ask me to move in?”

“Yeah!” said Sasha, bouncing off the couch and standing with her arms spread wide. “My place and my bed are big enough for two people, and you told me that the place you and Eren live is really only for one person. He can manage rent on his own, can’t he?”

Mikasa had not stopped to consider this, but took a moment to mull over finances. She said, “He should be able to live there on his own.”

“Do you think you’d be happy here with me?” Sasha asked, again looking eager and nervous.

She smiled. “I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

Sasha beamed and sat down next to Mikasa again to lean against her, head on Mikasa’s shoulder. “I want you to be happy all the time.”

Again, Mikasa took a moment to think. She sighed quietly.

“What?” Sasha asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I have to tell Eren that you and I are dating.”

Sasha sat upright, staring at her. “You…you haven’t told him about us?”

“I’ve _tried_ , but he just won’t listen to me. You know how he is about romance.”

“I know he’s not interested in it at all, but he really doesn’t listen to you about _your_ romantic life? You’re his sister.”

“I don’t think he wants to think about me in a romantic sense with anyone.”

Sasha looked defeated, her shoulders slumping. “So that’s a no?”

Immediately, Mikasa set her book aside and wrapped her arms around Sasha to hold her tight. “I’d love to move in with you. You just have to let me get it through Eren’s head.”

“Do you want me to come and help you explain? Maybe a visual aid will make it easier.”

“Sasha, I’m not kissing you in front of my brother.”

“I’m not saying _that_! I could just hold your hand!”

Mikasa let go enough to kiss Sasha on the cheek. “I’d like that.”

“Do you want to go tell him right now? Is he off work?”

“His weekend started today, too.”

“Great!” Sasha said, getting up off the couch and offering her hand to Mikasa. “He can help us move your stuff!”

“What, right now?”

“Don’t you want to move in as soon as possible?”

“I _do_ , but this is sudden, isn’t it?”

Sasha shrugged slightly. “All of us are off today and tomorrow. Why let the time go to waste? Do you have a lot of furniture?”

“No, but I have a lot of books.”

“I know where we can get boxes. It shouldn’t take too long. It’ll probably take longest to make him listen.”

She took Sasha’s hand and stood up. “I think he’ll understand if you’re with me.”

Sasha smiled. “Let’s go, then! We’ll use my truck.”

“And Eren’s.”

They left the apartment hand in hand, drove the few miles with their fingers laced, and Mikasa squeezed Sasha’s hand tightly as they walked into the apartment Mikasa and Eren shared. Eren sat at the small dining table, eating a bowl of cereal with his hair uncombed. He looked up on their approach and swallowed.

“Hey Sasha,” he said, voice curious. “You don’t usually visit unless Mikasa cooked dinner.”

Mikasa’s stomach twisted into a knot and she held even tighter to Sasha’s hand. “Eren, would you be okay—I mean, I need to tell you that Sasha and I, we’re…dating.”

Eren stared at them, holding his spoon loosely. “Really?” He looked between Sasha’s encouraging smile, Mikasa’s anxiety, and the way they held hands. “How long?”

“Our six month anniversary is in a week,” Sasha said.

“ _Really_? How come you never told me?”

“I tried, but you never listened.”

“Oh,” he said, looking shamefaced. “I’m sorry. But that’s great! Sasha’s awesome.” He paused at the lack of relief on Mikasa’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“Um,” Mikasa mumbled eloquently. She took a deep breath. “We’re—I wanted to know if you’d be okay living here on your own.”

Eren was silent for a long while. As Mikasa opened her mouth, he grinned knowingly. “Did Sasha ask you to move in?”

Mikasa blushed. “Yes.”

“Cool! Do you want me to help? We could call Armin, too. He’s off today.”

Sasha looked at Mikasa from the corner of her eye in time to see her visibly relax. She kissed Mikasa on the cheek and said to Eren, “The more the merrier when you move!”

“Lemme get dressed and we can get going,” said Eren, abandoning his nearly finished cereal. Mikasa finally released Sasha’s hand to clean up after him, her actions automatic. Sasha followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the counter while Mikasa rinsed out the bowl and put it into the dishwasher.

“That went well,” she said, smiling.

Mikasa, smiling even broader than her, nodded. She dried her hands on a towel hanging from the oven door before glancing in the direction Eren had gone. Before Sasha could ask her what she was doing, she kissed her firmly. Sasha grinned at her when she drew back, leaning in for one more before Eren returned.


	6. Cold v3.0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you reverse the situation on your drabble? Annie has a cold, and Mikasa has to take care of her!

Annie, Mikasa quickly discovered, was a complete wretch when sick. She would wander through their apartment in a daze, going from living room to kitchen and then back to the bedroom. Worse than her refusing to admit that she was sick was her refusal to simply lay down and rest.

Mikasa had to trick her by offering to put on a box set of an old show that Annie liked. It managed to work, and within the first episode Annie was dead asleep with her head in Mikasa’s lap. Still, she reacted every time Mikasa tried to slip a pillow under her head and get up, and so Mikasa sat back to watch and stroke Annie’s fever-hot head.

The fever reached a point that Mikasa damned the consequences and got up for cold wet cloths to put over her forehead and neck. Annie grumbled when she got up, and grumbled even louder when she came back and rolled her onto her back to put the cloths in place.

“You’re calling in to work tomorrow,” Mikasa said.

“Not,” Annie said, sniffing hard and coughing into her elbow in wet, racking noise.

“You’re not being funny if you’re trying to tell a joke. You’re really sick.”

“It’s just a cold.”

Mikasa took the opportunity of Annie opening her mouth to slip a thermometer inside. She held Annie’s mouth shut, ready for a struggle, but Annie only glowered at her. The thermometer beeped after a minute, and Mikasa looked at the readout before turning it toward Annie.

“One hundred and two point eight,” Mikasa said. “You’re staying home.”

Annie opened her mouth to argue, had to think for a while, and eventually gave up. She looked toward the TV. “Can we keep watching this?”

“Sure.” She put the thermometer away and came back, picking up her purse from the coffee table.

“Where are you going?” Annie asked.

“To the store for medicine. We didn’t pick up any after I was sick.”

“Oh.” She started to sit up.

“What are you doing? Lie back down.”

“I was going to go with you.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying here if I have to tie you to the couch.” She pushed her purse behind her back to lean close, push Annie down, and rearrange the cloths. “Just watch the show. I’ll be right back with medicine, and then you can take a nap.”

“I hate naps.”

“Naps are wonderful, and you should get in at least one today.”

Annie thought for another long few moments. “Can I have a blanket?”

Mikasa fetched the blanket off of their bed and tucked Annie in neatly. She set the remotes, a large box of tissues, a cup of water, and a small trash can within easy reach before gently running her fingers through Annie’s hair. “I’ll be right back. Take it easy.”

“All right.” She settled in, hearing the door lock a few moments later. She checked the clock on the wall above the TV every so often. In no time at all, the door unlocked and opened, and there was a rustle of plastic as Mikasa came inside. Annie sat up in preparation for the medicine, watching Mikasa set down a small box by her cup. As Annie opened the box and took out a blister pack of pills, Mikasa ferried a few bags into the kitchen.

“What else did you get?”

“Things to make wild rice soup with chicken. I’ll make enough to keep for tomorrow while I’m at work.”

Annie struggled through getting the pills free, swallowing them with a mouthful of water. She settled back down after blowing her nose and coughing hard. An episode passed, and she was asleep by the time the opening on the next episode had finished. She did not wake when Mikasa swapped out the warmed cloths for a cool-pack, letting out a faint moan of relief in her sleep. It took a few seconds of shaking her shoulder to fully wake her, and she sat up groggy and dim.

They ate together sitting on the couch, Annie leaning heavily against Mikasa. After finishing, they sat through another episode to let the pot of soup cool, and Annie lay back down when Mikasa stood up to head back to the kitchen. Annie was asleep again by the time Mikasa had poured the soup into a plastic bowl and put it, covered in foil, in the fridge. Mikasa went into their bedroom to retrieve the book she had started the night before, settled in the armchair in the living room, and read until the disc ended. Because Annie stirred, she swapped the discs, flipped over the cool-pack, and petted Annie’s head before sitting back down and keeping watch over her while she slept.


	7. after two years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I REALLY adore your domestic mikaani(my BIGGEST OTP ever!!) and I was wondering if you could do maybe something like them enjoying a romantic evening? maybe a nice night out for some special thing(holiday, anniversary, one of them plans to propose, ext) or a nice romantic night in, or something along those lines. anything domestic and romantic really >w

It started on their six month anniversary, the tradition of Annie wearing her hair down when they went out on anniversary dates. It made Mikasa smile to brush it out until it shone gold when they prepared for the evening, and Annie liked to see the faint, soft curve of her lips. She brushed Mikasa’s hair to a similar shine in return.

The clothes they wore shifted from date to date. On their six month anniversary, they both wore slim, sleek dresses. At one year, Annie amused herself by wearing flowing slacks and a jacket over a silk blouse while Mikasa wore a dress. At a year and six months, the both of them wore slacks and blouses.

Now at two years, Mikasa cut a fine figure in slacks, a jacket, and a low cut blouse beneath it. Annie wore a dress she had bought for the date, bright blue to match her eyes. Mikasa drove them to their favorite restaurant, enjoyed so because it was high class enough to have a small dance floor and a classical band playing. Much as it was tradition for Annie to have her hair down and reaching just past her shoulders, it was tradition to cap the night with at least one waltz.

They entered the restaurant arm in arm, and were seated at a table near the dance floor. They chatted idly about little things: how their weeks had gone so far at work, how eager they were for the weekend to get a chance to spend time in the gym sparring with one another. They ordered and ate in silence, though Annie smiled at the way Mikasa had taken off one of her shoes to lay her foot atop hers. Her foot did not venture higher, remaining little more than a comforting weight on her toes. Venturing higher was usually reserved for dessert, and Annie savored both equally.

The band played slow and mellow that night, all gentle waltzes and meandering minuets. They sat a while after finishing, waiting for the right song to dance to before dessert was had. Mikasa rose slowly to her feet, putting her shoe back on, and Annie leaned back to watch her. When she only stepped around the table and offered her hand, Annie smiled and gave her one in turn. The moment her fingers were in Mikasa’s grasp, though, Mikasa bent at the waist to kiss her knuckles. She then sank down on one knee, reaching into her pocket.

She opened the box she took from her pocket and held it out on the palm of one hand. In the box was a gold ring, topped by a small sapphire bracketed by two diamonds. Annie stared, lips slightly parted. Then, smiling again, she offered Mikasa her left hand. Mikasa took the ring from the box and slipped it easily onto Annie’s ring finger.

“You stole one of my rings to check the size,” Annie said knowingly.

“I put it back right when I got home.” She kissed her knuckles again. “So your answer is yes?”

“I wouldn’t let you put a ring on my finger if I didn’t want to marry you.”

Mikasa looked both relieved and overjoyed as she stood up, smiling broadly and holding Annie’s hand tightly. Annie stood at the faint pull to her hand, rising up on her toes to touch a kiss to Mikasa’s lips. When she rocked back down onto her heels, the band changed songs. They both listened to the first few notes before turning toward the dance floor, Annie leading the way. With a waltz playing around them, they found a free space on the floor and began to dance.

It was impossible for Annie to not look at the ring on her finger, hand resting on Mikasa’s arm as it was. It made her smile, and she eventually moved closer to hide her smiling face against Mikasa’s chest. From so close, she could smell the trace of perfume on Mikasa’s skin, and when she felt Mikasa rest her head atop hers, she knew Mikasa was breathing in the scent of her hair. Bit by bit, the proper waltz was abandoned for holding each other like this, feet barely moving. They parted when the song ended, returning to their table. As Annie toyed with the ring, they ordered and ate dessert.

To Annie’s surprise, Mikasa did not reach higher with her again-bared foot, seemingly content with resting her foot on Annie’s. After a few moments of watching her face, it was easy to see why. Her eyes smoldered and Annie, well versed in the language Mikasa had, knew their promise immediately. She had seen it many times before—once after a lengthy round in the gym, once after a stressful day for Mikasa, and once when they had just woken late one winter’s weekend.

She told Annie very clearly and without a single word that they would take time only enough to ensure that the door was properly locked behind them before starting. She took Annie’s left hand, turning it over on the table so the palm faced upward. Lightly, so lightly, she rested her fingertips on her wrist, stroking back and forth. With the slow drag of her fingers down into her palm, she told Annie it would be long, going deep into the night. What she did not tell Annie by the time the check arrived was what the mood would be, and this set Annie to wondering.

They drove back to the apartment, Annie’s hand on Mikasa’s thigh and fingers rubbing back and forth. She had Mikasa go up the stairs first to watch her move, but Mikasa ushered her inside before her. This gave her just enough time to get out of her shoes while Mikasa shut and locked the door, and then she had pushed Mikasa back against the door.

Mikasa’s hands got lost in her hair, pulling her in for a kiss, and she gripped Mikasa's jacket with both hands. Mikasa did not break the kiss, but reached down to Annie’s hips and lifted her off her feet. Annie wrapped her legs around Mikasa, feeling her knees bump against the door, and gripped Mikasa’s hair. Holding her up, Mikasa kicked off her shoes before taking them both into the bedroom. As she opened her mouth for Mikasa, Annie reached out and turned on the lamp.

They stayed there in the light for a time, tasting of each other and catching traces of their desserts. Then, Mikasa put Annie down and held her as she had done when they danced. Annie took the hint, and they started to waltz in their bedroom. Mikasa, as she did only when they were alone and she was deeply happy, sang softly, and they marked their time by the rhythm.

It was the last thing to say on the night, what the mood was, and Annie was happy that it would be slow.


	8. through the thawed rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sequence I wanted to write in thieves in the night, but I couldn't make it work with the ending I wanted to have.
> 
> Thus, this is a post-story piece. In which I am horribly cruel and I will probably make you cry.

Annie had made sure to put a note in her phone: _Feb. 10, Mikasa’s birthday_. They had traded dates on January fifteenth, after Mikasa had stopped by early enough to see the flowers Ymir had delivered for Christa’s birthday. Annie had thought about it ever since, mind stuck on what to give as a present. She struggled for the rest of the month on the thought, and visibly enough that Christa noticed and pulled Annie downstairs for lunch on the thirtieth.

“I got her books for Christmas,” Annie said, drumming her fingers on the table. “I have no ideas.”

“What if you gave her a book from you?” Christa asked. “Something you’ve translated.”

“That’s eleven days to translate and proof a book.”

Christa smiled. “I’ve seen you turn around some stupidly huge documents in less time. You could always find collections of stories online. You’ve got a really good eye for those.”

She sighed, but thought hard about it. By the time she was settled at home, she had figured out what kind of story to translate. As she opened her laptop, her phone buzzed on the coffee table, soft and slight enough that she nearly missed the call from Mikasa.

“Hi,” she said. “Sorry, I forgot to take my phone off do not disturb.”

Mikasa chuckled. “ _That’s fine. I just wanted to let you know that I have to go off the radar for a while and I won’t have a lot of chances to see you._ ”

“Why? Are you going on assignment?”

“ _Yeah. It’s a high profile case and I don’t want to chance anything._ ”

“High profile, or high risk?”

“ _Well…a little of both, I guess._ ” She chuckled again. “ _Annie, don’t worry. I’ll wrap it up before Valentine’s Day, I promise._ ”

“It’d be weird to give you a birthday present on Valentine’s Day.”

“ _All right, all right, I’ll figure it out before the tenth._ ” There was such warmth in her voice that Annie could see her smile when she continued. “ _You’re sweet for worrying about me._ ”

She smiled in turn. “You probably don’t want me to call or text, right? I might blow your cover or something.”

“ _Right. I’ll call you as soon as I can._ ” There was a brief instant where she inhaled but said nothing, and then she chuckled one last time. “ _We really need to schedule another match. That was fun._ ”

“We’ll figure it out,” Annie said. “I’m finally freeing up right around your birthday.”

“ _Then it’s a date. Have a good night, Annie. I’ll call soon._ ”

“‘Night, Mikasa. See you soon.” She smiled, sighing, as she took the phone off do not disturb. She set it aside and picked up her laptop to search for what she wanted. For the next six days, she worked on translating a pair of short stories, keeping them hidden from Christa’s curiosity. She went to bed late that Monday night, still in a groove from the night before. When her alarm went off at the usual time the morning of the seventh, she lay groggy and dazed for a few minutes.

Groaning, she sat up and grabbed her phone. Clicking the home button showed her there was a missed call from Mikasa at half past two in the morning, gone unheard because her phone had been left on do not disturb. The grogginess vanished when she saw that a voicemail had been left behind. She took the phone off its silent setting, set it then to speaker, and played the message.

“ _Hi Annie. I’m sorry I’m calling so late, but…um, I guess your phone is on silent again. I, um, I think that might be better. I don’t want to wake you so early before work._ ” The audio grew muffled a moment, but Annie could pick out coughing. “ _Sorry, I think I caught something on this case. So…wow, I’m sorry, I’m really tired and I probably shouldn’t have called. I just, um…I wanted to say something because it was on my mind and I didn’t know when I’d see you. Annie? Um. I wanted to let you know that I…I love you._ ”

Annie stared at her phone, eyes wide, and for a moment did not hear the coughing that Mikasa could not quite hide from the message. “ _Sorry, sorry. I’ll get some medicine before we kiss again. So. Yeah. I wanted to tell you that just now. My case is all wrapped up after tonight, so I should be calling again soon, okay? Promise. I love you, Annie, and I’ll see you soon._ ”

She spent the entirety of her morning in a daze, heart somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. She kept her door closed to fend off any questions she knew would come about the blush on her face. The door proved a wise choice at nine seventeen, as her phone rang with Mikasa’s number on its screen. She cleared her throat without much success and answered it.

“Hi Mikasa,” she said. “Are you finally off your case? Can…can we talk about what you said on your message?”

“ _Is this Annie Leonhardt?_ ” said a man’s soft voice.

She turned slightly, staring at her phone. “Who the hell is this? Why are you calling from this number?”

“ _Miss Leonhardt, my name is Armin Arlert. I’m with the Sina P.D. I was one of the officers that came to your apartment last fall._ ”

“I don’t care who you are, I want to know why you’re calling from this number.”

“ _Miss Leonhardt, please, I need to tell you something important. Mikasa has been shot._ ”

Her legs went numb; her heart fell out of her throat. Faintly, she asked, “What?”

“ _The witness at the scene reported it happened at a little after two this morning. Mikasa caught up to a kidnapped girl whose parents had been murdered, and she took two bullets for the girl before taking out the kidnapper. The…the paramedics gave me and Eren her phone after they brought her in. You were the last number she called._ ”

“Where’s Mikasa?” Annie said, unaware that she had taken to her feet.

“ _She’s here at Sina General, but she’s still undergoing surgery. It’s probably going to go on for a while._ ”

“What room?” Annie said, closing down her computer.

“ _Wha—Miss Leonhardt, she doesn’t have a room yet! She’s still in surgery!_ ”

“Then you’re going to tell me where to go so I can wait for her to get put in a room,” Annie said, gritting the words out. “Where do I go?”

“ _U-uh, just get to the main lobby and ask about Mikasa. We’ll tell the staff to expect you._ ”

“Thank you,” Annie said, trying and failing to fish her keys from her purse.

“ _You’re welcome. I’m…I’m sorry._ ”

Annie ended the call and stuffed her phone into her purse, retrieving her keys with both hands. She went immediately to Hanji’s office, relief spilling down her limbs when she saw their door was open. Bracing her knees, she knocked on the frame and waited until they looked away from their computer.

“I have to leave,” she said. “Right now. And I can’t come back for a while.”

Hanji looked at her with a faintly stunned expression. “What? Annie, you never leave sick.”

“I’m not sick,” she said, and she could not fight the tremor in her throat. “I just found out Mikasa was shot. I need to leave for Sina General right now.”

“Oh my God,” Hanji whispered. They stared, unmoving, for a moment more. Urgency in their movements, they waved the back of their hand at her. “Annie, Christ, don’t fucking worry about us, just go.”

“Thank you,” Annie said, wishing she could think of more. She turned sharply and walked as fast as she could toward the elevators. She did not pause when Christa stepped out of her office in confusion, and offered no explanations as she drew near. The look on her face, pale and wide-eyed, was enough for Christa, and she only briefly touched Annie’s shoulder as she passed.

How she managed to get to the hospital without speeding or running a light, Annie would never know. Her shoulder struck the sliding door because it did not open fast enough, and she felt sweat on the back of her neck when she reached the main lobby. Hands trembling, she went to the front desk and waited for someone to be unoccupied.

“I’m,” she said faintly to the man behind the counter, “I’m—I’m here looking for a police offi—a detective. M-Mikasa Ackerman. Is she h-here?”

The man said nothing of her pallor, only checking a chart and his computer. “She’s still in surgery. It’ll probably be a while longer, okay? We’ve got our best surgeons in there with her.”

“But how long has she been in surgery already?” she asked.

“Since a little before three this morning.” He stood when she began to stare through him, setting his hands lightly on her shoulders. Soft and slow, he said, “It’ll be okay. Go ahead and take a seat over there, and we’ll come get you when she’s ready for visitors. I promise.”

She swallowed without doing much, nodded, and made her way to the waiting area. Someone caught her elbow before she could get far, and she turned to see two men in uniforms standing there. She barely recognized them as Armin and Eren from months ago, but the look on the Armin’s face made her flinch and pull her arm away. She swallowed again, tried to rub her eyes, and found she could not open them again without crying. Eren stepped in and hugged her hard enough to crush the breath from her.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “She’ll pull through for you.”

“Shouldn’t she be pulling through for her brothers?” Annie asked, sniffing hard.

“You’re her girlfriend. You trump.”

She sniffed again when he let go, managing to force the tears back to open her eyes. “I thought you hated that she’s dating me.”

“You came here for her,” he replied. “That beats out anything.” He patted her shoulders. “Go on and sit. We’ll come get you when she’s ready.”

She nodded and swallowed one more time, taking a seat. She arranged her purse on the floor between her feet, winding the strap around one leg. Getting her legs in a comfortable position, she settled in to stare at the floor. She did everything she could to not think, because she knew every thought under the surface of her skull was dreaming of what the damage was. Whispering, she began to count backward from five hundred in German. When she reached zero, she started over at six hundred.

This routine kept her unfocused enough that she did not pay attention to any conversation or footsteps. This also kept her from looking up when running footsteps slid to a screeching halt in front of her. It took the loud snap of fingers in front of her face for her to jerk out of counting and lift her eyes. Ymir stood there, out of breath and pale.

“H-hey,” she panted. “Fuck, you’re really here.” She looked around, pushing back her hair. “Jesus fucking Christ.” She looked back at Annie, sighed hard, and sat down resolutely next to her. “You look like you know how to sit in these crappy seats.”

Annie gaped at her. “What—why’re you here?”

“Christa called me after you booked it from the office,” Ymir said. “Hanji told her why you left and where you were going. She asked if I could sit with you for a while.”

“But what about your job?”

“It’s my day off.” She wiped the sweat from her brow. “Who the fuck cares about me missing a day, anyway? Your lady’s up there needing you, so you need someone to make sure you don’t flip out. I can do that for a while, okay?” She set her hand on Annie’s back, rubbing slowly up and down, back and forth. “Okay?”

Annie stared, and then words fell out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I told her to dodge.”

“What?”

“I told her to dodge if she got shot at.” Her eyes burned; the back of her neck ached. “I told her to.”

“Hey, you were both drunk,” Ymir said. “I’m surprised you even remember.”

She shook her head. “She couldn’t. I knew she couldn’t. I just wanted her to not get shot.” She tried to breathe in and choked. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t even know if all I have left of her is the message she left me after she was shot.” She bowed her head, putting her hands on the back of her neck and her elbows on her thighs. “Ymir, she called me and told me she loved me _after she was shot_. I wasn’t even awake—my phone was on silent. What if that was the last chance I had to talk to her and I missed it?”

“Dunno,” Ymir said. “‘Cause it wasn’t.” She shifted in her chair to drape her arm over Annie’s shoulders. “Come on, don’t do this shit. You can’t think she’s gonna die. She’s gotta see me do your tattoo, she’s gotta keep doing her detective thing, and she’s gotta see you again. Mikasa will be fine.”

“You can’t promise that,” Annie said bitterly.

“Sure I can,” Ymir said. “And when it comes true, you’ll have to thank me.” She patted Annie’s head with care. “It really will be okay. Just cry it out now and you’ll be ready to smile at her when she wakes up.”

Annie wanted to snipe back at her, but the weight of Ymir’s arm on her shoulders kept her low. She inhaled, felt her eyes burn again, and gave up. She closed her eyes and began to cry, body shaking as she forced herself not to sob. Ymir rubbed her back as she did, never making a sound. She made no comment at all when Annie managed to sit back up again, choosing to lay her hand on Annie’s shoulder and squeeze tight.

Sniffing, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve, Annie mumbled, “Christa gets me through my mom, Mikasa gets me through me, and you’re getting me through Mikasa. What the fuck.”

“You’re cute,” Ymir said. “We don’t mind.”

“Thank you,” Annie whispered. “Thank you so much.”

Ymir smiled and wiped away a wet streak on Annie’s cheek with her thumb. Just as quietly, she said, “You’re welcome.” They sat without speaking for a long while, long enough that the light from the window behind them grew dimmer as the afternoon came. It grew dimmer still as clouds lumbered along in the sky, and soon the window was being struck by hail and rain. Annie kept herself from checking her phone or the wall clock near the front desk. Knowing the surgery had been going on since three in the morning was bad enough on its own.

She only looked up from the floor when hurried footsteps of small feet stopped before her and Ymir. Christa, hair and shoulders wet from the rain, stood there. Her breathing was inaudible past the noise on the window, but Annie heard its tremor clearly when Christa sat down on her other side and hugged her fiercely.

“Thank you for sending Ymir,” Annie said when she let go.

Christa exhaled a laugh, rubbing at her own eyes. “I can’t ever let you be all by yourself in a hospital.” Taking one of Annie’s hands, she asked, “Do you know what happened?”

“The officer who called me said she was shot twice by a kidnapper she tracked down, and that it happened at around two in the morning. I didn’t ask about anything other than where she was.”

“Fuck,” Ymir said quietly. “I don’t blame you.”

“And there haven’t been any updates?” Christa asked.

“No. Everyone said they’ll come get me when Mikasa is in a room.”

“Excuse me,” said a quiet woman’s voice. They looked up to find a short Asian woman before them, her hair silvery-white and her face anxious. “Are you Annie Leonhardt?”

“I…I am. How do you know that?”

The woman smiled very slightly, touching the green knitted scarf around her own neck. “Because I made the scarf you’re wearing.”

Her heart fell. “You’re Mikasa’s grandmother.”

The woman bowed for a moment, saying, “My name is Yumiko Fujī.” When she straightened, she could not bring herself to smile. “I’m sorry we’re meeting like this.”

Christa shot to her feet, stammering, “P-please have a seat, ma’am. I’ll sit over, erm, over here.” She went to sit on Ymir’s other side, but Ymir pulled her off her feet to sit in her lap.

Yumiko’s lips twitched upward for a moment as she sat down. “Thank you, dear. And thank you for being here. I’m glad someone was here for her before I came.” She touched Annie’s arm with thin fingers without wrinkles and creases; Annie could feel them trembling. “They haven’t said anything more?”

“No,” Annie murmured, shaking her head. “I wish they had.”

“We just have to wait, then,” Yumiko said. She patted Annie’s arm softly. When she looked between Annie’s scarf and her eyes, she managed to smile again. “She was right. It goes with your eyes perfectly.”

Annie smiled for her, murmured her thanks for the compliment, and set her hand on top of Yumiko’s. Once again, silence fell on them. The rain and hail continued, never changing in intensity. It could have been lulling, but the clicks of the hail on the window kept them all tense and alert. After some minutes like this, they heard a voice calling to them.

“Grandma,” Eren said, coming closer quickly with Armin on his heels. He dropped to one knee and hugged Yumiko as she reached for him. “I’m so, so sorry. I wish we’d been out with her.”

She rubbed his back. “I knew this could happen, Eren. None of us blame you.” She looked at Armin, throat tightening. “Is there any news?”

“The most recent update we have is that it seems like it’s going well,” he replied. “I really don’t know.” He checked his watch, sighing. “It’s nearly five o’clock.”

Annie felt her stomach churn. “She’s been in surgery for fourteen hours?”

“Yeah,” Armin admitted. “I’m sorry.”

For a long few moments, no one moved or spoke. Slowly, Annie put her face in her hands and tried to breathe evenly. She heard Eren get to his feet and felt him squeeze her shoulder, but could not speak to him. She only looked up when Armin yelped, seeing that a short man in green scrubs had silently come up behind him. The man looked at them all with weary black eyes, underscored by dark bags.

“Jesus Christ, why is there a party out here?” he asked. “I was told to look for a scared blonde woman and maybe two idiot officers, not all of you.”

“Who the hell are you, short stack?” Ymir asked, sneering.

He sneered back. “A surgeon, genius. We’re all color-coded.” He looked between Christa and Annie. “Which one of you is Annie Leonhardt?”

“I am,” Annie said, voice shaking. “Who’re you?”

“Doctor Levi Ackerman,” he replied. “No relation to the detective I just spent my entire day on.”

Annie tried to speak, failed, and forced her words out anyway. “Is Mikasa—”

“Alive and stable,” he said. “They’re getting her set up in an intensive care room, so a couple of you can go see her soon.”

She had never felt more grateful to be sitting down. She asked, “She’s okay?”

“Not counting the holes in her lung and her gut,” Levi said, “yeah, she’s okay. She’ll be out for a bit longer, but she’ll be fine.”

Yumiko slumped back in her chair, putting her hands over her face to hide her tears. Over and over, she said, “ _Yokatta_.”

“Thank you,” Annie said, smiling weakly. She put her forehead in her hands and said, “God, thank you.”

Levi hummed softly. “Mind what I said about just a couple of people in her room at a time. And sanitize your hands before you touch her. I don’t want all my work going to shit because one of you got her wounds infected and it gets septic.”

“Yes sir,” Annie said. She let out a tiny laugh. “Thank you so much.”

He hummed again, starting to turn away. “I’ll send a nurse for you when she’s ready. Shouldn’t be too long.” Without another word, he walked off silently, stretching his arms over his head. Once he was gone, Eren threw both fists into the air and bounced up and down. He grabbed Armin in a ferocious hug, and then dropped down on his knee again to do the same with Yumiko. He hugged Annie as well before throwing his fists in the air and grinning madly.

“I’m amazed you’re not screaming,” Yumiko said, laughing and wiping her face dry.

“He doesn’t want to get thrown out for being noisy,” Armin said. He took a deep breath, tipping his head back and rubbing his face. “Oh, thank _God_.”

Christa leaned from Ymir’s lap to hug Annie. She said nothing, and neither did Annie.

Ymir smirked and said, “See? Told you she’d be fine.”

Annie coughed out a laugh. “Yeah, you did. Thanks.”

Christa kissed Annie’s head before letting go. “Okay. Ymir and I will go home and let you see her.”

“We’ll go report that Mikasa’s all right,” Armin said. “Everyone at the station is worried.”

“You don’t want to see her?” Annie asked.

“We will,” Eren said. “But the doc said only two people can go in at a time, and you and Grandma are the people she’ll want to see when she wakes up.” He smiled at her. “It’s fine.”

“Thank you,” Annie said quietly. She lifted a hand as the others went off, dropping it when they were out of sight. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, unable to blink or breathe. Softly, she said, “Oh my God.”

Yumiko set a hand on her shoulder, eyes wide and bright with joy. “She’ll be okay.”

Annie nodded, rubbing at her eyes. They waited barely ten minutes before a woman with graying hair and round glasses came to them. She led them up to the fifth floor, but walked slowly through the halls to speak.

“Did Levi explain what we did?” she asked.

“Not really,” said Annie.

“Not surprised. She was shot twice on the right side, with one bullet passing through her stomach and the other managing to get through the gap in her ribs to pass through her lung. Both bullets exited the body, for better or for worse. Levi managed to get the blood out of her lung and she’s breathing steadily, but we’ll monitor for a pneumothorax just in case.”

She stopped outside one door and looked at them severely. “Under no circumstances are you to press on the patient’s chest or stomach, or handle the equipment she’s hooked up to. If at any time the patient looks as though her breathing is labored or weakened, you are to alert the nursing staff. The same goes for her heart rate changing dramatically. Am I understood?”

“Of course,” Yumiko said, looking startled.

“Good. In we go.” She opened the door slowly, letting them enter the room. Annie froze in the doorway, eyes widening at the sight of Mikasa lying unconscious in the bed. She was pale, her face somehow peaceful despite the the plastic tube under her nose. The nurse left them once Annie had stepped inside and both of them had sanitized their hands, and Yumiko went to Mikasa’s side.

“I don’t know what any of this is for,” Yumiko said softly, looking at the monitoring devices and IV drips around Mikasa.

Annie came closer, looking at everything. “One of those bags is blood, and one of the two others is probably a painkiller. I think the last one might be some kind of nutrient, since I doubt they want her eating right now. The tube on her face is a nasal cannula—it’ll give her better air to breathe. And she’s hooked up to monitor her oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure.”

She sighed, touching the medical bracelet around Mikasa’s wrist. Her hand rose to brush Mikasa’s hair away from her brow, careful to avoid the tube. “I can’t believe you.”

Yumiko looked at Annie. She said, “You’ve stood at someone’s bedside before, haven’t you.”

“My mother’s,” Annie said, and she did not elaborate. Yumiko did not ask for more, and they took seats on either side of the bed.

Minding all the hanging tubes, Yumiko gently took one of Mikasa’s hands and let her limp fingers rest in her palm. She smiled. “She always looks so peaceful when she sleeps, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Annie said, smiling as well. “She takes weekend naps like nobody’s business. You get tired watching her.” Tentative, she asked, “Has she always been like that?”

“Oh my, yes. My little Mika-chan would play hard every single morning and then lie down on the floor at exactly eleven fifteen for a nap. Honestly, she was such a pleasure as a little girl that I never minded her coming for the weekend.” She chuckled and rubbed Mikasa’s knuckles. “Even when she picked so many fights after she came to live with me, I never minded. She’s such a sweet girl.”

“She is,” Annie said quietly. “The kind who calls you in the middle of the night to say sweet things in case she doesn’t see you soon enough.”

Yumiko chuckled. “You can’t teach a person to do that.”

“Can’t teach them how to pick out yarn that goes with your eyes, either.”

“She was very particular about matching that hoodie for you.” She sniffed and smiled. “You should’ve heard her talk about your sparring match. I don’t think any of the martial arts classes she joined ever gave her as much of a challenge as you did.”

“No one else bruised her ribs?” Annie asked with a crooked smile.

“No one else even came close. She adores you.”

Annie felt herself go red and looked at the floor with great interest. Yumiko smiled, but did not press. She sat quietly, holding Mikasa’s hand with care. When Mikasa’s fingers twitched, she felt it immediately. She looked up to her face, finding that her eyes were open.

“Oh my God, Mikasa,” Yumiko said, getting to her feet. “ _Mika-chan, daijōbu? Karada ga itai no_?”

“ _Bāchan_ ,” Mikasa whispered, voice raspy. “ _Daijōbu. Chotto itai kedo…daijōbu._ ” She blinked and breathed in slowly. “ _Nande byōin ni iru_?”

“ _Mika-chan, oboetenai? Utareta_.”

“ _U…utareta_?” She let out a faint sigh. “ _Sō iu koto ka. Baka na koto yachimatta ne_.”

“ _Ki ni shinaide. Zenbu wa mou heiki_.”

Annie stood slowly as they spoke, heart pounding. She moved closer, setting her hand on Mikasa’s shoulder. Mikasa turned to look at her, and Annie could not keep herself from crying at the sight of her eyes.

“Annie,” Mikasa said, eyes widening. She smiled, trying for a moment to sit up. Annie kept her where she was, and so she settled without fuss. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Annie said. She smiled and tried to dry her face off, but Mikasa reached up and touched her wrist.

“‘M sorry,” Mikasa said, still smiling. “I dodged a little.”

“I don’t care,” Annie said. She ran her fingers through Mikasa’s hair, careful near the tube. She laughed briefly, putting her forehead to Mikasa’s. “I don’t care.”

Yumiko looked at the both of them, smiled knowingly, and said, “Annie, I’m going to get something for us to eat. I don’t think you’ve eaten all day. Mika-chan, be good and don’t move.” She departed with a wave, closing the door softly behind her.

“Annie?” Mikasa said. “Did…did I call you before I passed out? I tried to.”

“What, do you want me to play the message back?” She sighed and shook her head, slowly combing Mikasa’s hair with her fingers. “I hope you didn’t call me right after getting shot and passed out before calling an ambulance.”

“I called the ambulance first. Then I panicked and called you ‘cause I wanted to hear your voice.” She blinked and looked at her arm. She sighed at the sight of the IVs and checked her other arm, nearer to Annie. Finding it fairly unimpeded, she carefully lifted it and set her hand on Annie’s cheek. “Sorry about scaring you.”

“I’ll get over it.” She tipped her head down and kissed Mikasa’s hair. Keeping close, she whispered, “I love you, too.”

Mikasa blinked, thought, and then smiled shyly. “Not just saying that ‘cause I’m hurt?”

“No. Did you just say it because you thought you were going to die?”

“Did not,” Mikasa said, shaking her head. “I meant it. I love you.” Her fingers slipped into Annie’s hair. “I do.”

“I know,” Annie said. She kissed her hair again before taking her hand from her cheek. “Settle back, okay? I think your main nurse is ex-military, and I don’t want her yelling at me.” She pulled her chair closer, sitting and setting her hand on top of Mikasa’s. “They’re going to keep you in here way longer than me, you know.”

“Was it really bad?”

“You were under the knife for nearly fourteen hours.”

Her brows rose. “Oh. Wow. Um. I guess that’s why I feel like my chest is broken.”

“Your surgeon might’ve cracked a few ribs to get to your lung.” She chuckled and rubbed Mikasa’s fingers. “If he did, he probably cracked a few more just to be a dick.” She exhaled shakily and put her forehead against the bed’s railings. “I should still get him a card at least.”

“Maybe my grandma can knit him something.” She stroked Annie’s head. “Hey.”

“What?”

“I don’t want to go to sleep.”

“But you’re tired, right?” She reached up to take Mikasa’s hand, kissing her knuckles. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Your grandma, too.”

“Promise?” Mikasa asked, even as her eyelids started to fall.

“I promise,” Annie said, and she stood to kiss Mikasa’s brow before she drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The conversation Mikasa and Yumiko have is as follows:
> 
> "Mika-chan, are you okay? Are you hurting?"
> 
> "Grandma. I'm okay. I hurt a little...but I'm okay. Why am I in a hospital?"
> 
> "Mika-chan, don't you remember? You were shot."
> 
> "I was...shot? I see. I did something really stupid, didn't I."
> 
> "Don't worry about it. Everything is okay now."


	9. Bladed Ghosts on Invisible Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because someone on tumblr asked, "How about assassin Mikasa and templar Annie (or vice versa)?"
> 
> No guarantee that I'll expand on this. The sequence just bit me really hard and I needed to write it.

Annie Leonhardt’s father had told her in her youth that she would be inducted as a Templar when she turned sixteen. This sat well with her, especially when he took her into the world to show her what it needed. There was order to be had amidst the violence and grotesquery, but it had to be controlled with careful hands. Everyone worthwhile in her life—teachers, trainers, acquaintances—was part of the organizations. She grew with Templars, knew the truth of freedom within their close guidance.

Once she had been sworn in, she was given her own tasks. Every firearm that existed was given to her to break down, rebuild, destroy, and remove all traceability. She learned how to wield every kind of blade, from hunting knife to the various swords of the world. Her favorite weapon was one that most Templars scowled at, strapped to the bottom of the wrist and spring-loaded to strike at the flick of a finger.

For years she trained in all varieties of combat, gaining proficiency in everything taught to her. She excelled most in Krav Maga, so much so that she was able to take her father down in a match when she was twenty-one. Having watched her progress so closely, he was deeply proud of all the choices she’d made within their world. He gave her the weapon she’d so preferred and told her it was fate that she would choose the blade of the Assassins, as she would be the Templar’s best weapon against them.

By the time she was twenty-two, she had been prepped thoroughly. She knew enough Japanese to get through the streets of Tokyo, able to read almost anything and knowing how to blunder her conversation to appear like a normal tourist with a passing fancy for the language. Every day she learned the layout of the city’s wards, and every day she was told of the strongholds the Assassins had there and throughout the world. They could not pinpoint the exact locations, and every week that passed without dead Assassins was a week that allowed more to come into their fold.

In Tokyo, she would be looking for one particular Assassin in the hope that she could find their den. There were, predictably, no photos of her target. They had a name and a description, the first clear and the second given only through a recording taken while a beating was delivered to two men. She would be looking for Mikasa Ackerman, credited for thirty assassinations throughout Asia and the Mediterranean. There were forty more killings that were rumored to be her work, but details were slim.

Before she flew out to Narita at the end of fall, she was checked from top to bottom. Scars from training had been left behind; she had never taken on any marks or sigils from the Templars in preparation for this task. Her luggage went through security checks befitting a Templar, letting through her wrist-blade as well as three knives to be strapped to her back and two pistols to be tucked under either arm. Her task was to wander Tokyo for a month and get herself noticed.

It was not all up to her, as a few lines had been thrown out by the Templars in various information networks. She went through her days matching up the streets and skylines she had studied, idly thumbing through books at stores and riding the trains in odd patterns. She looked over her shoulder in shop and train windows, but saw too many people matching the description of “black-haired Asian woman” to be certain. With fall upon them, there were also too many scarves on those women to tell.

Her twelfth night was colder than those before, and she sighed and stepped slightly out of the flow of foot traffic to adjust the high collar of her shirt and the jacket over it. Annie looked up to the massive glowing screen across the street, watching a few advertisements play over the muffle of the crowd before her and the train lines to her left. There were two clusters of students nearby, and one person strumming on a guitar behind her for loose yen.

She shifted her shoulders minutely to adjust the way her weapons sat on her, wondering if she should find a vending machine for a hot coffee. Aware of the person approaching on her left, she started to turn to leave. The sight of a red scarf fluttering in the faint breeze made her hesitate, and she looked up to see a black-haired Asian woman staring at her with purpose before turning and walking casually away. Annie followed after she had taken seven steps, keeping a meandering eye on her.

The easiest way to track her was that scarf, its fringe shifting as she walked. The lights of the stores and machines around them made the color of her jacket murky, something between black, green, gray, and red all at once. Annie hid her frown in the collar of her shirt and kept herself from idly flicking the wrist-blade. She watched the woman turn easily down an alleyway between buildings, steeled herself, and followed when the way was clear.

The woman stood deep in the alleyway, facing Annie with such a blasé expression that Annie had to force herself not to scowl. Annie moved closer slowly, silently picking her way past the detritus of moldering food boxes and empty cigarette packs.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” the woman said, no trace of an accent in her English.

“I want in,” Annie said.

The woman raised a brow. “‘In’ on what?”

Annie looked over her shoulder, stepped closer to be able to lower her voice, and said, “The war. People deserve freedom.”

The woman smirked. “That’s a universal truth, isn’t it? We all deserve that. I don’t know if there’s really a war going on.”

“There is and you know it. I want to be able to fight like you do. Like everyone on our side.”

“‘Our side’?” the woman said. “What side would that be?”

Annie felt her heart rate spike as she brought her left arm forward. She flicked the wrist-blade out, showing it and its gauntlet in the faint light coming in from a lamp behind her. “The side my father fought on.”

The woman looked at her for a moment, adjusting the scarf around her neck. She hummed, sighed, and said, “Well, we can talk in slightly nicer surroundings. Come on, put that away so we can get on the street again.”

Annie nodded and flicked the wrist-blade back in. She knew, in the brief second she had to see the woman’s arm flash out, that she had made a critical error she needed to fix with all haste. Her goal was to use her right hand to draw one of her other knives, but the woman grabbed her wrist and spun her about to pin her arms and hold her tight enough to lift her from her feet. Though she meant to struggle, the woman slipped her free hand into her coat, drew something Annie could not see, and clicked a switch on it.

Nearly silent whirs of metal on metal and hisses of gas were the only thing she knew then, as her vision blurred and her head reeled. In the time it took her to realize they were in the air, they were already out of the alleyway and hanging on a wire whose hook was clipped at the top of the Takadanobaba building. She tried to turn to look at the woman, but she was just as abruptly tossed up into the air. The woman caught her by the ankle and let her tip over and fall upside down to stare down at the street far below. Annie went numb with panic and did not squirm.

“So who’re you really?” the woman asked.

“A-Annie Le-Leonhardt.”

“Leonhardt? Not the same Leonhardt as Matvey Leonhardt of the Templars, surely.”

“H-he’s my father.”

“Then he trained you to be a Templar, I assume.”

“Yes. H-how are we—”

“None of your concern. Did the Templars send you to kill me?”

“No.”

“Really?” She loosened her grip enough for Annie to feel it.

“I was—I was sent to find the Assassin den here in Tokyo!”

“And _then_ kill me.”

She could not bring herself to speak, and nodded in the hope that it would be seen.

“I should throw you onto the Yamanote tracks. Make it look like an accident.”

Her mind managed to give her a weapon. She fumbled at her shirt, grabbing what the Templars had given her before she left. She curled her body to look at the woman and held out the necklace she had been wearing, a leather cord holding a brass key.

“I know where your brother is!” she said desperately. “I know where Eren Jaeger _and_ Armin Arlert are, and if you kill me you’ll never get another lead on them in your life!”

The woman froze, too startled by the key to hide her emotions. She scowled and heaved Annie up and into the air in an arc that left her smashing down on the top of the building. Annie lay on her front, too winded to move or even look up when the woman landed on the roof and stormed over to her. She coughed when she was kicked onto her back, and again when the woman dropped onto her knee to drive it into Annie’s chest. Her other leg she lowered to press hard on Annie’s neck.

“Where is my brother?” the woman snarled. She flicked out wrist-blades from both wrists and held them close to Annie’s eyes. “Where is he?”

“Let me in on your operation and I’ll think about telling you,” Annie choked out. “Kill me, and their location dies too.” 

The woman’s face twisted in fury, and she drew back her blades to hold Annie’s free hand down while she pressed harder on her neck. Annie could not struggle with no breath in her, and soon blacked out.

When she woke again, she was on a comfortable couch in an apartment with blacked out windows. The woman sat in a chair opposite the couch, leaning forward and frowning.

“You want in on the Assassin operations?” she asked.

“Yes,” Annie said.

“In exchange for my brother and Armin, safe and alive. Those are my terms.”

Annie smiled, dark and ugly. “Can’t exactly put all this in a written contract, you know.”

“I know. I’ll take what I can get.” She sighed and sat back. “Then you get to work with Mikasa Ackerman, Annie.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Annie, and she did not bother to fake sounding pleasant.


	10. As always, shifting space and time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because someone asked me months and months ago to write a story where Annie was the one who found Mikasa in that forest, and I've been kicking this around for a while.
> 
> I probably won't continue or refine this, but I wanted to share.

She shouldn’t have gotten involved. When her father died, she had resolved to bide her time and only come back into society completely when she was about to enter the military. But she was in the woods that day looking for prey, and when she heard ungainly footsteps tromping through the underbrush of the forest she ducked behind a tree and looked. She caught sight of three adult men making their way uphill. This would not have bothered her, but before she turned away she saw that one of the men had something under his arm. Something with small, limply dangling feet.

Something in her bristled at the notion of slavers in this forest of hers. It served as another sign that her father had been right about humanity, but still, she found herself following them and relying on the rain to cover her footsteps. As she went, she ran her fingers over the handle of the knife on her belt. Rabbits and their skins were what she had wanted, but she now calculated how much force would be necessary to cut down a full grown adult when she was a slight girl of ten.

A small house was where they went, and she stood outside staring at the door. Rain dripped off her hood and fell on her nose, and she wondered what she was doing. The small size of the feet she had seen made her think of her own. It was a girl in there, she was certain, young and unconscious and little more than meat to the men inside. Her father had told her in detail what would await her if she was ever caught by slavers. It made her guts twist, and she thought to turn away to leave humanity to itself.

But her father was no longer there to take her shoulder and make her turn. She gripped the handle of the knife and went to the door. It was unlocked, and it made her smile slightly to find it. Slowly, softly, she went through the hallway and listened for voices. The first door she found was one that hid noise behind it, and she waited only long enough to come up with a plan. She pulled down her hood and knocked. The voices stopped mid-word. Footsteps came close; the click of the latch made her heart jump. She trained her face to anxiety when the door opened, and the man beyond looked startled to see her.

“I got lost in the woods,” she said. “Can I stay here until the rain stops?”

The man turned bodily aside to show her to the other man inside the room. On the floor was a small girl, a bruise rising at the side of her face. She stared vacantly out, unaware of her or the men. The man inside grinned and nodded, and the man closest to her smiled and bent down at the waist.

“Of course you can, sweetheart,” he said, words sweet and cloying. He reached out for her, but she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down. She slit his throat in one quick swipe of her knife, and shoved him aside as he burbled and gagged. The man inside gaped at her, and she took the chance of him being still to draw her arm back and hurl the knife into his fat throat. He pitched backward and fell, and she walked casually into the room as he died.

The girl seemed to come back from wherever she was at the sight of her walking in. She lifted her head and followed her across the room, looking over her shoulder when she passed to retrieve the knife. It was not hard to get her to sit up, but the ropes holding her proved difficult.

“There was another man,” the girl said, and her voice was soft and lost.

“I know that,” she said, sawing at the ropes with more fervor. “Come _on_.” She jerked at the loud bellow that came from the door, slashing the last of the ropes and the girl’s wrist as she looked up. The third man ran inside as she shot to her feet, but he kicked her as hard as he possibly could when he came near before she had a chance to cut him. She slammed into the wall, feeling broken ribs crunch against each other when she landed on the floor.

He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground, screaming about how she had killed his compatriots. He choked her slowly, more suited to snapping her spine than cutting off her air. Her legs were too short to reach where she needed to kick, and her vertebra creaked. She looked at the girl, seeing that the knife had dropped near her.

“H—elp!” she said.

The girl startled, looking at the knife briefly before panic came to her face. “I’m scared!”

She tried to pry the man’s hand open, managing to say, “ _So_?” The man squeezed hard enough that her vision went spotty; her hands dropped. She looked at the girl again, finding she had picked up the knife and was on her feet. She trembled visibly, looking desperate. The man’s focus did not waver, even when she reached out for the girl and gasped, one last time, “ _Help_.”

The last thought she had as her vision went hazy was that she was a fool for not listening to her father in the end. She went limp and closed her eyes. A sharp noise like cracking wood caught her fading attention and made her open her eyes again. She heard the girl yelling, and all at once the man let go of her. She hit the floor as the man stumbled past, and lay there wheezing until his wheezing stopped.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked, hands awkwardly hovering over her.

“Fine. Give me a second.” She stared at the ceiling until the beams stopped looking fuzzy and then shifted her eyes to the girl. She knelt there, shivering in a white dress made damp by the rain, with a bruise spreading from the corner of her mouth up toward her eye. There was clarity in those gray eyes, more than there had been less than a minute ago.

“What’s your name?” she asked the girl.

“Mikasa Ackerman.”

Her ribs chose that moment to reset themselves, and she rolled onto her side to cough against the sting. Mikasa put a hand on her shoulder, holding on gently through the coughs. She brushed her hand aside to sit up. Undeterred by this, Mikasa pressed on.

“What’s _your_ name?” she asked.

She looked at Mikasa, contemplating her answer. If the slavers were out this far, they must have gone to a house in particular. With the heavy rain, everyone who lived in that house must have been home at the time. Given how dead-eyed Mikasa had been, it was likely that she was the only survivor. She was alone, deep in the mountain forest, with nothing more than a dress to her name. Still silent, she looked about. The floorboards close by where Mikasa had been standing were shattered; the knife was buried deeply in the man’s back.

It was the change in Mikasa’s eyes that did it in the end. She said, “Annie Leonhardt.”

xx

Early on, Mikasa never questioned Annie. It was not a rule, or even something Annie had even tried to suggest. Mikasa simply followed Annie’s lead and never asked why they lived alone inside a small house in the mountain forest. She did not ask why no one batted an eye when they ventured into the nearest town to sell the various furs Annie had gathered up over the months. Why no one questioned what Annie was doing when she led Mikasa around to get shoes and clothes that would fit her. Not a soul looked at them twice, not even after Mikasa had tugged gently on Annie’s sleeve at a small open shop and looked longingly at a pair of scarves folded on a table.

“You’re absolutely sure the shoes fit,” Annie said as they sat on a set of stairs near the edge of the town.

Mikasa nodded, picking carefully at the meat in her sandwich. She looked at Annie hesitantly, hand going to the red scarf around her throat.

Annie glanced down at the blue scarf Mikasa had carefully put on her, exhaled quietly, and rearranged it to sit more securely under the hood of her coat. “I like it, don’t worry.” She reached inside her coat to feel at the leather purse tied there. “I think this should last a while. We might need to get some more rabbits later.”

“Okay,” Mikasa said, voice muffled in her scarf. She pulled it down slightly to eat, eyes on the ground. Very slowly, she moved closer to Annie.

Annie finished her sandwich and idly tapped her heels on the ground. She looked at Mikasa’s feet again, leaning down to grip the soft toe of her shoe. “You’re already taller than me. You’re probably gonna get taller. Tell me when your shoes don’t fit anymore, okay?”

“Okay.” She soon finished her sandwich as well, and looked at Annie with faint anxiety. “We left your knife back in the cabin. We need a new one.”

“I know,” Annie said. “It’s fine.” She stood up and brushed crumbs off of her scarf. Offering Mikasa her hand, she said, “Come on. We should get back before sundown.”

Mikasa nodded and took Annie’s hand. They went to the blacksmith then, and still were never questioned when Annie bought a knife for each of them. As they headed to leave the town entirely, Mikasa hesitated on hearing noise in the distance. Annie looked past her, saw the scuffle of five boys their age on the banks of the river, and pulled Mikasa back into walking.

“They’re not worth it,” Annie murmured. “Besides, I don’t care how far you buried that knife in that guy. You don’t know how to fight.”

“Then teach me,” Mikasa said. She met Annie’s eyes evenly, brows lower than before. “I can fight.”

Annie sighed. “Fine. I’ll teach you how to fight and live off the land so you’ll be okay when I enlist.”

“Enlist?”

Annie pointed to the massive wall in the distance. “Know what’s past that?”

“Titans.”

“Right. I’m joining the army in a few years. I’m going to join the MP.”

Mikasa looked at the wall, blinked once, and then looked at Annie. “Then I will, too.”

Annie gaped at her. “Wha—no, _what_? No, you’re not! This is what I have to do, and you’re not getting in my way!”

“I won’t get in your way,” Mikasa said. “But I’m going with you.”

It set her teeth on edge. She scowled at Mikasa and stormed away. Uselessly, as Mikasa was able to keep up with her with shoes on her feet. They did not speak again until they returned to their house, and even then not until the wee hours of the night. Annie found Mikasa sitting up alone at the small table that did not act as their chopping block and skinning table, staring at the soft fluttering flame of a candle with her chin on her arms. Annie sat down on the other side of the table, taking the same posture.

“I don’t want you following me around like a puppy just ‘cause I kept you from getting sold as a slave,” she mumbled. “That’s not why I did it.”

“I’m not following you like a puppy,” Mikasa said, frowning. “I’m going to make sure you’ll be okay.”

Annie straightened up. “Excuse me?”

Mikasa straightened as well, and there was a light in her eyes far stronger than the reflection of the candle. “I’m going to make sure no one ever hurts you. I can do it.”

“I’m going to be fighting titans, you know. You can’t promise that you’ll protect me against them.”

“I can.” Her hands tightened to fists. “I _can_.”

Annie went silent. She could not think of what to say. She looked at her hands, thinking of the last time she had bit into her flesh with purpose. When she looked at Mikasa again, she was suddenly aware of the fact that her own feet dangled far off the ground in the chair that had once been her father’s. The touch of Mikasa’s hands to hers made her jump. Looking up showed the light in Mikasa’s eyes having grown stronger, and Annie hesitated.

She faltered, said nothing, and nodded because it had been more than a year since anyone else had held her hand. Mikasa smiled, and the following morning Annie set to training her. It was almost too easy; Mikasa took to everything with the most inordinate focus and innate talent. At least five times in the next year, Annie truly thought she hated Mikasa. She could not understand how she kept getting knocked down, and the frustration left her silent and moody.

It was on the fifth time that Mikasa finally worked up the courage to make suggestions. She explained how she had managed to flip Annie over, and in doing so showed Annie how to escape the move. When she managed it, Annie felt a taste of how it was to do something elegant with no visible effort, and she stood there staring at Mikasa and giggling under her cheeks burned. Mikasa giggled as well, and Annie never felt hate for her after that.

xx

They both knew it almost before it happened. They stopped what they were doing and looked out toward the silent south, toward the farthest point of Shinganshina. Annie meant to grab Mikasa’s wrist and haul her off the ground, but the lightning-crack and tremor in the earth was strong enough to knock her off her feet. In mounting horror, they looked south again and saw steam, as well as the hand atop the wall.

“Oh my God,” Annie whispered, and before she had taken another breath Mikasa had gotten them both to their feet. She pulled Mikasa into the house, saying, “Just your knife and your money purse.” She grabbed her own set, as well as a ring her father had left her. She slipped it into her money purse because her fingers were still too small, and then grabbed Mikasa’s hand.

“Whatever you do,” she said, “ _do not_ let go of me. We have to get to the evacuation boats right now.” They froze at the second shattering crack of sound, but ran anyway. Very soon, they heard screaming, and the sound only increased when they reached the edge of town. They stuck close to Wall Maria, heading for the river straight as they could. Streets could not be avoided, though, and they found themselves battered by the throng.

At one point, a stray elbow caught Annie full in the face and knocked her down. Mikasa turned as she fell, smoothly scooping Annie up and onto her back. Annie held on through Mikasa’s final sprint to the evacuation boats, and they were allowed on board together. Mikasa only set Annie down where there was space enough for both of them to sit, and she anxiously checked Annie’s face.

“I’m f- _kff_ -fine,” Annie sputtered. “It just stunned me a little. What about you?”

Mikasa shook her head. “I’m okay.” She looked around, but decided to huddle closer to Annie when the boat started moving. She pulled her scarf higher on her face and put her pinky finger over Annie’s. “What d’we do?”

“We follow everyone else, I guess,” Annie said. “There should be somewhere for us to stay for a little while.” She stood up slowly, hanging on to Mikasa’s shoulder when the boat rocked. She looked back toward the wall, squinting in the light of sunset. Deep in the back of her ears, she heard more thunderous noise. After a moment, Mikasa heard it as well, and gripped Annie’s fingers tightly.

“Are those footsteps?” Mikasa asked.

“I don’t know.” She grew tense at the sound of people screaming at the gate, and then stared with horror as a titan burst through the gate of Wall Maria entirely. A chill ran up her spine, not because the wall was breached, but because she knew in an instant that the armored titan was just like her: a human wrapped in the flesh of a monster.

Mikasa said nothing. She held tight to Annie’s hand, and when Annie sat down she moved close enough that their shoulders came together. They were silent amidst the terrified weeping, Mikasa stone still and Annie staring back toward the clouds of dust that the titan disappeared within, never seen in the rest of the chaos. Briefly, Annie registered that a boy had made his way to the edge of the boat, his hands bloodied and filled with splinters, and was snarling to himself as he wept. She paid him no heed and concentrated on holding Mikasa’s hand.

By force of will, they scraped through the next two years without being robbed, raped, or killed. They worked barren fields with all the rest of the refugees, and escaped being sent back outside the wall by dint of being small and young enough to be considered worth protecting. They waited until enlistment opened once more, and joined when Annie was thirteen and Mikasa was twelve.

The rest of the recruits were barely any older, but they were a mix of foolhardy idealists or people trying to reach the safety of the interior. Annie did not want on bothering with any of them, but she had to keep herself from coming off too hateful. By the time they sat for dinner, she stayed in a sullen silence. Even Mikasa’s friendly conversation with two other girls that joined them did not lift her spirits. She only looked up when a boy who had been talking about the fall of Shinganshina came to their table and stared at Mikasa.

“Back out on the grounds, did you say your name was Mikasa Ackerman?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, brows lowering. “Why?”

He smiled eagerly. “Me and my dad thought you went missing all those years ago! The MP gave up on finding you! I’m Eren Jaeger, Doctor Jaeger’s son!”

Mikasa looked at him blankly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember any doctors.”

Annie said and did nothing for a moment, hellbent on not staring openly at him. She remembered him and his snarling from the evacuation boats, but she had never expected to see him. She inhaled, exhaled, and looked at him with a withering stare. “Why don’t you go back to telling your audience another story about the titans in Shinganshina? They were a lot more interested in you than we’ll ever be.”

Eren scowled at her, but the moment he put his hands on the table, Mikasa was on her feet. She glowered at him, a few inches taller even when he straightened. He grumbled, “What?”

“Leave,” Mikasa said quietly.

“Since when are you the commandant?” Eren snapped. “I can be here if I want!”

“I don’t remember you or your father,” Mikasa said. “There’s no reason for you to stay here. Leave.”

Eren’s scowl grew darker, but a blond boy hurried over and caught him by the elbow. The boy said, “Eren, come on—you didn’t finish your dinner. Let’s not fight.”

Annie caught Mikasa’s shirt and tugged once. For a moment longer, Mikasa and Eren stared at each other. Then, Eren turned as Mikasa sat back down. As he and the other boy left, the two girls looked at them anxiously.

The brown haired girl picked at the last piece of her dinner roll, brows low. “I don’t know if you heard him, but he spent most of dinner talking about how he’s going to join the scouts and kill all the titans. He’s going to start with the Colossal and the Armored titans.”

Annie did not hide her smirk. “Uh huh. We’ll see how he actually does.” She looked at the girls, but paused when she could not remember what their names were.

“Sasha, what regiment are you trying to get into?” Mikasa said smoothly.

The brown haired girl smiled. “I’m going to try and get in the top ten and join the MP!” She looked at the black haired girl beside her. “Mina, didn’t you say you wanted to join the garrison?”

“I do,” she said. “It should be a little safer than the scouts, at least. What about you two?”

“MP,” Annie said.

“The same,” Mikasa said. She looked up when a bell clanged outside the mess hall. “We better get to sleep. We’re starting our training on the omnidirectional mobility gear tomorrow.”

Annie smirked again as they all stood up. Soft enough that only Mikasa heard her, she said, “We’ll see what that little idiot can even manage on the ODM.”

The following morning, she and Mikasa passed the initial balance exam in the gear’s straps and lines with no visible effort. She felt eyes upon them, but cared only about the officers passing by and Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Fubar’s curious scrutiny. When they were let down, they took their time in watching others. Jeering brought them all to one rig in particular, and Annie allowed herself a tiny smile at the sight of Eren upside down and wiggling.

“Pretty interesting fellow, don’t you think?” Reiner said, bending slightly to speak near her ear. “Odd look about him.”

Annie looked at him, finding Bertholdt beside him. “You’re one to talk.”

“You and Ackerman are an interesting pair, though,” Bertholdt said. “Where are you from?”

“Shinganshina, near Wall Maria,” Annie said flatly. She regarded their hardened, sympathetic expressions, and accepted the pat Reiner gave to her shoulder. This made Mikasa relax slightly, and they went on in their training with something like a friendship with each other. Annie decided, the next day after he had managed to get a handle on the gear, that she would keep a distance from Eren. Mikasa did the same without discussion.

The officers noticed early on that Mikasa and Annie brought out the best in each other. More and more often, they were assigned out on training missions together, given command of squads of cadets, watched closely whenever they sparred on the training grounds. Annie watched officers try not to gawk at Mikasa’s prowess with the paring blades and ODM, and smiled internally when she overheard them speak highly of her as well. It only got better when Mikasa gave her suggestions again and the officers noticed her improvement.

Three years passed with no issues, despite how closely she kept an eye on Mikasa and the others. When the time came and they were ranked, she was not surprised in the least to be standing next to Mikasa, the number one cadet. On her other side came Reiner, Bertholdt, and Eren to surprise her in the fifth position. She ignored his smugness and brash mouth over the veritable feast for the graduating cadets, letting herself relax to fall asleep faster.

The morning came with clear skies and a cool breeze high atop the walls. All the cadets were cheerful, and the squad assigned to Mikasa and Annie did their part in maintenance checks on the standing artillery. She honestly wasn’t thinking of it—hadn’t thought of it in years because the memory of her own shifts were starting to be hazy. When sickly red-yellow lightning struck at the gate leading out of Trost, her heart nearly stopped. Every cadet on the walls turned as one, and froze where they stood at the sight of the Colossal titan looming at the gate.

She had to grab the back of Mikasa’s coat to keep her from bolting toward the titan, even as the other cadets turned tail and ran. She wrestled Mikasa back from the edge of the wall, managing to get her to put away her blades.

“You are not taking that thing on,” Annie said sternly. “Not now, and not without me. Come on.” They made their way back to headquarters for orders, Annie feeling Mikasa’s nervous eyes on her the entire way. Only when the order for all cadets to be the middle guard to help safeguard the evacuation of civilians did Mikasa relax in the slightest, and she hung close even when Annie had been assigned a squad to lead. She waited for her own squad, but an officer of the garrison came near.

“Cadet Ackerman,” he said. “You’re with the elite in the vanguard.”

“But,” Mikasa said, but she went silent at the slow way Annie reached up and shifted the scarf around her neck.

“I’ll be fine, okay?” Annie said. “Do what you’re told and stay alive.”

Mikasa took a breath, nodded, and they parted ways. Annie kept control of her squad, getting them through any panic by taking point. They cut through titan after titan, following her orders to the letter. Somehow, they all managed to stay alive through the rain and the screaming, but it became apparent that even when the rain stopped, there were no resupply squads coming out to give them more gas.

A bell rang to signal the end of the evacuation, and Annie was damned sure no one on the rooftops had enough gas left in their ODM to scale the walls and escape. She and her squad came upon the largest group of surviving cadets, and they stood there unsure what to do. It took everything in her not to look at the panic in the others, and she busied herself with adjusting her blue scarf and the iron ring on her right forefinger.

“Annie!”

She looked up as Mikasa came swinging onto the roof, feeling something in her chest relax. They met halfway, and Mikasa looked around in the briefest confusion. Her face fell, and she looked at Annie.

“No one here has any gas to scale the wall, do they,” she said.

“No, and HQ is pretty much overrun by titans.” She watched as Mikasa looked at the other cadets and listened to their silence. She saw the way her jaw set and sighed hard. “Are we really going to risk our lives on this?”

“What else would we do?” Mikasa asked. “I need your help to pull this off.”

“Fine,” Annie grumbled. “I’m going to be really pissed if we get killed on your stupid nobility.”

Mikasa smiled slightly. “It was _your_ stupid nobility that nearly got you killed the first time. Don’t blame me.”

Annie sighed again, but nodded. She turned around and barked, “Everyone listen up!”

Once everyone had lifted their heads, Mikasa spoke. “We’re going to storm HQ to get our gas resupplied! Annie and I will take point and draw the titans toward the northeast so you can get inside through the windows on the west side!”

“But—just the two of you?” Marco asked.

“That’s suicidal even for you!” Jean said. “We already lost suicidal idiot number one when Jaeger got eaten!”

Annie stared, and others did the same. “He’s dead?”

“Just ask Armin,” Jean said, jabbing his thumb at the shellshocked blond a few yards away. “Look, you two are the top of the class. We need—”

“Us to kill the titans you’re not strong enough to kill by yourselves,” Annie said. “Mikasa and I have enough gas between us to draw the titans away from you and still make a break for HQ. If you don’t want to save your asses, then you can stay right here and get eaten. Your call, Kirstein.”

Jean scowled at her. “God, I hate you.”

“I know. Take the lead with them.” She gestured to Jean, saying, “Follow him to get to HQ. We’ll be there soon enough.” She looked at Mikasa, feeling her throat tighten. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” She and Annie set out at a run, heading northeast across the rooftops. When they were out of earshot of the others, she said, “Annie?”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about this. I’ll make sure none of them hurt you.”

Annie had no time to respond before they had to swing out on their lines to slash through titan flesh. She felt the cold rush of adrenalin pour through her limbs, giving her sharp enough senses to keep going and keep cutting and keep a desperately close eye on Mikasa. A hand reached out to block her, but she hurled her body into a spin that slashed off every finger and shot her to safety. She skid to a halt on a rooftop, turning to find where Mikasa was in the air.

Mikasa turned as well some distance away, coming out of a whirlwind blow to a titan’s weak point. She pulled the triggers on her ODM, but only one cable fired. It pierced the chimney of a building, but the structure was too weak to support her nearly frantic attempt to swing up onto a roof. The chimney crumbled, the cable snapping loose. Her eyes widened as her brief burst of gas sent her plummeting into a vendor’s stall with enough force to collapse it on top of her.

“Mikasa!” Annie shouted. She raced over the rooftops, but even as Mikasa managed to extract herself, face bloodied from a cut on her forehead, a titan lumbered up the street. Mikasa tried to run, but the hook of the loose cable caught in the broken wood and held her still for a moment. She stopped pulling long enough to cut off the titan’s fingers as it reached for her, and then wrenched free.

Annie stared, wondering if her heart had stopped. The angle did not work; the titan’s weak point was facing away from her. If she tried to leap in, she would likely be grabbed and stuffed into its mouth. She looked at Mikasa, running for her life with such determination that Annie could barely see her fear. It would be the easiest thing in the world to stop running forward and make good an escape toward HQ. It would be so easy to lie and say she had tried to save Mikasa, or that Mikasa had ordered her to save herself.

It would be so easy to complete her mission if Mikasa wasn’t there to potentially stop her. If a human wasn’t there to stop her. Her feet did not stop pushing her forward; she did not want them to stop. Everything else could be easy if it weren’t for the fact that letting Mikasa die was out of the question. She reached the edge of the rooftop and leaped, propelling herself hard with gas with one hand so she could bring the other to her mouth and bite down viciously.

The red-yellow lightning fell upon her, and she felt flesh build around her limbs. She shoved her head against it to connect with the eyes that came into existence. The moment she had fingers, she curled them into fists whose knuckles instantly capped themselves with sharpened crystal. Her feet slammed down, shattering the street beneath her, and she rocked into her forward momentum to smash her hardened fist into the titan’s head. It went flying, and she grabbed its shoulder before it fell backward. She threw it onto its front and stomped as hard as she could three times on its weak point.

Before she could look to Mikasa, two more titans came up at the other end of the street. Only glancing down long enough to see where not to put her feet, she dashed to the other titans. One she swept off its feet by kicking its legs out from under it, driving her heel into its weak point. The other she rolled over her shoulder when it tried to swipe at her face, and she knelt to rip through the back of its neck. This done and the street quiet, she turned back.

Mikasa sat on the ground, staring with massive eyes and an open mouth. She continued to sit, entirely still but with her eyes growing wider, as Annie came closer. When Annie got down on one knee, stretching out her hand, Mikasa nearly bolted. The way Annie moved slower and set her hand down, palm up, made her pause. Annie used her other hand to point at her open palm. Mikasa did not move.

A bellow rang out from a distance that was too close. Annie pointed again, with more urgency in her motion and her eyes. Mikasa, shaking, managed to reel the cable on her gear back in and gingerly climbed into Annie’s hand. She gasped when Annie lifted her, rising to her feet, and set her carefully on her shoulder. Mikasa fired the one working cable into the flesh of Annie’s shoulder and held tight to her hair. Annie kept her hand near her shoulder and set out at a run for HQ.

Somehow, through luck and speed, they reached the northeast side of the building without meeting another titan. Annie hurriedly put Mikasa on an undamaged pathway before slumping her body against the wall. She closed her eyes on the outside before opening her real eyes. Heaving as hard as she could, she pulled her arms free of the searing flesh as the back of her neck melted away. Getting her legs free was even harder, and she leaned back and fired her ODM cables into the higher wall. The gas and the gears wrenched her free, and she hit the wall feet first.

The moment she landed, Mikasa was on her. She shoved Annie against the wall hard, hands holding her shoulders. Her eyes were wide; her face was pale enough to make the blood on it stark.

“We,” Annie said weakly, “we need to get inside. Your ODM is broken.”

Mikasa shook her head, laying her hands on Annie’s cheeks. She stared, mouth open but barely letting out sound. Tears welled up in her eyes before she pulled Annie into a crushing embrace. One arm she wrapped around Annie’s shoulders, and the other she used to hold Annie’s head against her.

“Please tell me you’re okay,” Mikasa whispered through tears. “ _Please_.”

Annie was too stunned to reply quickly. “I’m—I’m fine. Mikasa, we have to get inside before anything comes after—”

Mikasa cut her off by shoving her against the wall again and kissing her with such intensity that Annie felt her legs grow weak. Closing her eyes, she gave up and kissed back. She did not expect it to burn so much, and she did not want Mikasa to pull away. Pulling away meant that something was going to end, and she was all too scared that it would likely be whatever life she had with Mikasa. She could not bring herself to look at Mikasa when they parted, but Mikasa put her hands on her cheeks and made her lift her head.

“You need to explain everything once this is over, all right?” Mikasa said. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Okay,” Annie said, nodding once. She reached up and wiped the blood off Mikasa’s face with her sleeve. “Come on. We’ll get a bandage and a new ODM inside.”

Mikasa nodded, taking Annie’s hand in hers as they headed inside. Before they came across anyone, Annie tugged Mikasa into a short, dark hallway. She worked the iron ring off her finger and pressed it into Mikasa’s hand. When Mikasa looked at her in confusion, she closed her hand tight over hers to fold her fingers into her palm.

“Whatever happens, make sure I’m the only person you give that to,” Annie said. “Don’t make it seem like it’s mine.”

“What do you think is going to happen?” Mikasa asked.

“I don’t know. Please just keep it safe.”

Again, Mikasa nodded, and she put the ring onto her right ring finger. They found those that had survived the rush on HQ, and both were baffled at the sight of Armin composed and speaking. Sasha noticed their looks and came over.

“The most incredible thing happened!” she said. “Armin ran out of gas early on, and Connie and I thought he was a goner when two titans came up on either side of him. But one of the titans completely ignored him and went on a rampage against the other titan! It’s outside right now killing other titans—it’s why nothing’s come in after us!”

“There’s a titan killing other titans?” Mikasa asked.

“Yeah! It really saved our lives out there! Armin’s gotten his wits about him again, so come here! He’s got a plan to get us enough gas to scale the wall!”

Annie spotted Mikasa managing to not glance nervously at her as they headed toward where Armin knelt on the floor. They listened, however distractedly, to his plan to blind the seven titans in the supply room to give their best fighters a chance to strike at their weak points. They agreed without fuss, even when Armin backpedaled slightly from nerves, and they all arranged themselves either in the rafters or the lift.

Waiting with the utmost patience, Annie allowed herself one look at Mikasa before the rifles fired. Mikasa met her gaze, smiled with determination, and they dashed forward the moment the titans reeled. It would have been nothing to slay the titan half an hour ago, but her arms and torso felt the strain after shifting. She forced herself through the burn when Connie stumbled in his attack, using a support beam to leap high enough to slash through the titan’s weak point.

“Holy shit,” Connie said when all the titans were down. “Thanks, Annie. I’d be less at least one limb without you.”

“More like less one head,” Annie said. “But you’re welcome.” She accepted his pat on the shoulder before heading to Mikasa. They stuck close to refill their gas and blades and find a working ODM gear, ignoring the rising sense of hope within the other cadets. Mikasa rearranged Annie’s scarf to rest closer to her skin with a nervous hand, but they headed outside to scale the wall without speaking. They hesitated on seeing Armin standing on a roof, staring out into the streets. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Jean headed up to join him, and Mikasa tugged on Annie’s hand to do the same.

The sight that awaited them was one that did not fully surprise Annie. They all saw a titan being devoured by others, still struggling but clearly exhausted. It was not until Armin spotted another titan wandering by, whispering that it had killed another member of his original squad. The sight drove the wounded titan berserk, summoning enough power to shake off its foes and run to the new titan. It bit down on the titan’s neck, shaking it before throwing it into another titan. It roared, finally alone on the street.

“We need to go, you morons,” Jean snapped. “Who cares about a freak abnormal?” He jumped when the titan collapsed onto its front, body steaming. “There, you see? We’re wasting time and risking death watching it evaporate.”

“I don’t think it’s just evaporating,” Reiner murmured.

Jean turned around, jaw dropping at what they could see through the steam. Armin leapt off the roof and swung down to the carcass. He ran to the figure that had emerged from the back of the titan’s neck, wrapping his arms around Eren, whole and uninjured. Only after Reiner and Bertholdt had swung down to retrieve them both did Armin start to cry, clutching Eren with shaking arms. For a long while, they stood at the top of HQ, staring either at the aftermath of Eren’s rampage or at Eren himself.

The one reaction Mikasa showed was to reach over and lace her fingers with Annie’s. Annie held tight to her hand, letting go only to join the others in scaling the wall and commandeering a lift to carry Eren down to the ground. So focused were they on watching Eren twitch and start to stir, they did not notice a large squad of garrison soldiers waiting for them with rifles and blades. There was no fighting the order to disperse and leave Eren and Armin behind, and they started to walk away. Annie’s eyes widened when Mikasa’s hand shot out, grabbed her hood, and wrenched her backward to dodge the rifle shot aimed for her skull.

“Not you, cadet Leonhardt!” screamed Captain Kitz Wellman. “You will explain yourself as much as Jaeger!”

Mikasa had drawn her swords before he finished speaking, moving to stand in front of Annie. She snarled, “Why? She hasn’t done anything.”

“Mikasa, don’t make this worse,” Annie whispered.

As if to ruin the effort, Eren spoke, entirely audible and with an unpleasant cheerfulness in his voice, and said, “You’re all gonna die.”

Armin stared in horror, shaking Eren’s shoulders with growing force. “Eren, come on!”

Inhaling slowly, Eren’s eyes cleared of haze. He stiffened at the sight of the squad, face pale and sweaty.

“Cadets Jaeger, Leonhardt, Arlert, and Ackerman!” Wellman shouted. “You have all committed an act of high treason, and I order you to explain yourselves!”

“Oh God, Armin, what’s going on?” Eren hissed. “Why’re they staring at us?”

“You have to explain what happened!” Armin whispered back. “Please—we need to convince them not to kill you!”

“Kill—for _what_? I haven’t done anything!”

“Eren Jaeger!” Wellman continued. “We have eyewitness reports of you coming out of the carcass of a titan! And Annie Leonhardt! We have further reports of you _turning into_ a titan! You will explain yourselves to me so I may pass judgement!”

Armin and Eren turned to stare at Annie. Armin weakly asked, “You did what?”

“ _Answer me_!” Wellman demanded. “Are you humans, or are you titans?”

Mikasa looked at Annie over her shoulder, the black scowl fading for anxiety. “What do we do?”

Annie drew air in through her nose, let it out again, and stepped to one side so Wellman and the soldiers could see her. With one last look at Mikasa, she called back, “I am a titan-shifter, able to summon and control the body of a fifteen meter class titan! Based on what I saw of him, I would say that Eren is the same!”

For a long while, not a soul moved, spoke, or breathed. Most of the garrison soldiers looked ready to panic. Slowly and with a trembling hand, Wellman began to raise his right arm. Annie’s attention snapped to the left as Mikasa’s did, both of them seeing the cannon aimed directly at them. Before Mikasa could move, Annie, heart pounding, grabbed the back of her coat and threw her into Armin and Eren. She ran behind them and bit down on her hand hard enough to break skin and crack bone.

The cannon fired as the lightning struck her, the sounds blurring together. She focused only on curling around the trio on the ground, building a wall made of her body and the crystal she formed along her left side. Her right hand she held steady over the nape of her neck, covering it just as the cannonball shattered on the crystal on her left shoulder. The smoke and dust from the ball exploding and gouging the ground with shrapnel was just as blinding as the steam that came from her newly formed body. Very slowly, she lifted her head to let in light for the others to see by.

Mikasa was the first to meet her gaze, pale but not shaking. Armin and Eren gaped up at her with differing levels of horror in their faces. Eren recovered first, fury lifting him onto his unbalanced legs. Before he could bite his hand, Mikasa wrenched both of his arms behind his back to hold him still.

“She’s not an enemy!” Mikasa said. “If she was, she wouldn’t have protected me and let this slip!”

“You _knew_?” Eren spat.

“No, but I don’t really care! She just saved my life again, and your lives as well!”

Armin said nothing, only staring up at Annie’s massive eyes. She looked back steadily, but soon lifted her gaze to the soldiers. He turned, just able to see past her crossed legs. The soldiers beyond were all but paralyzed at the sight of Annie, hands shaking and weapons unsteady. Armin looked back to Annie.

“Will you be able to withstand another shot?” he asked.

She nodded slightly.

“Will it wear on you?”

She nodded again.

“And you have complete control over this ability?”

Once more, she nodded.

“Okay.” He thought, rubbing his head hard. “Okay.” Gently, he said, “Guys? I need you to trust me on what I’m about to do.”

“Which is what?” Mikasa asked.

“I’m going to try and convince the soldiers that Annie and Eren aren’t going to attack and that we’ll all cooperate with military direction on how to use their abilities.”

Mikasa looked up at Annie, a chill running down her spine. Annie looked back but made no move. Mikasa turned to Armin and said, “We can’t trust that they won’t just kill her immediately!”

“Cooperating is going to be better than trying to run!” Armin replied. “Even if she tried to go just on her own, they’d recognize her as a human and a titan! And there’s no way to guarantee that she’d be able to protect any of us from gunfire or cannon shots before getting back over the wall!”

“I can defend both of us just fine,” Mikasa said. She looked up when she noticed Annie shaking her head. For a time, she could not comprehend her expression. Quietly, she asked, “Are you saying you want to give Armin’s plan a shot?” When she nodded, fear clotted in Mikasa’s throat. She swallowed, let go of Eren, and nodded at Armin.

“I’ll convince them,” Armin said, voice firm and brows low. “Don’t worry.” He went to Annie’s ankles and climbed over them, running into the lingering haze. When Eren tried to follow, Annie tilted her leg to keep him within the safe range of body. Though he snarled at her, she did not look at him. Mikasa moved to stand next to him, hand resting on Annie’s leg, and they all listened to Armin as he spoke.

“Annie and Eren are not enemies of mankind!” he said. “If anything, they are our greatest possible allies against the titans!” Seeing Wellman’s mouth open, he raised his voice and spoke faster. “If there were eyewitness reports of both of them, then all of these witnesses must realize the same thing!”

“Which is what?” Wellman barked.

“That the titans see them as prey, just like humans! You must have seen Eren being swarmed on by other titans, and the only reason Annie displayed her abilities was to _save_ another human being!”

Wellman’s face grew more pallid, and more sweat came up on his brow. “Do you think I’ll be swayed by this garbage? Do you think any one of us would believe that the titans would ally themselves with us?”

“Look at her!” Armin shouted, pointing through the dissipating smoke. “She has complete control over that body, and she is sitting there without attacking any of us! Don’t you understand that this could turn the tide for us? If Annie and Eren join forces, we could retake Trost!”

The soldiers all flinched at his words; resolve began to seep out of them. Before any of them could speak, Wellman gestured with a violent sweep of his arm. “How dare you try and trick us with these lies? Trost has been lost, and the longer I allow either of them to live, the greater the chance that they repeat the same devastation of the Armored titan! We cannot allow this threat to exist any long within the safety of Wall Rose!”

Armin gaped at him, looking back for the briefest moment. His eyes met Eren’s, and Eren nodded with a tiny smile. Armin turned sharply and snapped a perfect salute, right fist over his heart. At the top of his lungs, he bellowed, “I am a soldier of humanity, and I have dedicated my life to the restoration of our people and our land! My greatest desire in this world is to return freedom to humanity and eliminate the threat of the titans! On the little time I may have left in the world, I will swear to their strategic value!”

In the ten silent seconds that followed, there was no reading the expressions of the soldiers. Then, Wellman began to lift his right arm, eyes lowered and horrified. Armin looked at the cannon, panicked enough that his legs would not move. Annie reached out and carefully grabbed him by his coat, pulling him back to the haven she had made. Though she focused on strengthening the crystal, the cannon did not fire. She looked up to find that Wellman’s arm had been caught and held still.

“Now now,” said the man behind him. “I believe a soldier whose resolve is that hearty deserves a chance to explain his thoughts.” He stepped forward, arms crossed behind his back. He looked at Annie with a raised brow. “Good lord. I never thought I’d ever actually see a sexy lady titan.”

Annie winced inwardly, but let the others step out of the circle of her flesh. She tried to pull herself free from the titan, but her hands and legs remained stubbornly caught. Before she could so much as grimace, Mikasa had clambered up along the crystal to pull her loose. She accepted the help down to the ground, fully aware of the grooved scorches along her face when they were approached by the man, adorned with a sash and wearing the coat of a garrison soldier.

“I am Commander Dot Pyxis,” he said. “You’ll forgive me if I haven’t memorized the names of the one-oh-fourth cadets.”

Armin saluted again. “Commander, my name is Armin Arlert. This is Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Annie Leonhardt.”

Pyxis nodded slowly before beckoning them onward. A lift was brought for them and Pyxis’ staff, and they returned to the top of the wall. For a time, they followed behind Pyxis as he walked along the wall and surveyed Trost below. He stopped and heaved a sigh, muttering, “Hard to believe it’s happened again.” He turned and looked at them, and he smiled when Mikasa and Armin stepped protectively in front of Annie and Eren.

“Let me put your concerns to rest,” he said. “I am entirely willing to hear out this plan to retake the city. I will not be attempting to kill your friends.”

Armin smiled with relief, but Mikasa did not budge until Annie touched her side.

“Let’s hear it, Arlert,” Pyxis said. “I’ll hear what drove you to say those desperate words.”

“Well, sir,” Armin said, glancing at the city, “I think Annie and Eren are our best option to seal the destroyed gate. They might be able to lift the boulder that’s near the gate and put it in the hole to stop any more titans from getting into the city. Otherwise, we have to abandon Trost entirely.”

Pyxis’ brows rose. “So you mean to say that we fight against the titans _with_ these two titans here?”

“Sir, with all due respect, Annie is _not_ a titan,” Mikasa said through a stiff jaw. “I’ll thank you to not call her that when it’s likely to get her killed.”

He laughed. “All right, fair enough! What were the exact words you used, cadet Leonhardt?”

“Titan-shifter, sir,” she replied. “I’ve been able to summon and control the body of a titan since I was very young. I don’t know about Eren.”

“And you had nothing to do with the loss of Shinganshina and Wall Maria?” he asked.

“Mikasa and I lived in Shinganshina. I wouldn’t destroy my own home.”

He looked at her closely. “Do you know who did it?”

She stared. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I’d be willing to bet the whole of the southern territory that the Colossal and Armored titans are like you and Jaeger here,” Pyxis said, his voice low and even. “Shifters. Know anything about who that could be?”

She shook her head slowly. “I figured there were more shifters than just me, but I hadn’t met any others until Eren. I didn’t even know until he came out of the titan in front of us. But…the Colossal titan appeared after the same lightning that hits me struck near the gate. You’re probably right.”

Pyxis sighed. “Very well. We’ll try to look into that after we address the here and now.” He looked at Annie and Eren more closely, seeing Eren’s pallor and the way the scorches on Annie’s face still lingered. “Cadets Jaeger and Leonhardt, I have a question.”

They stood at attention despite weariness, saluting him. “Sir!”

“Do you think you can do what cadet Arlert is suggesting? Take that rock and block the hole in the wall?”

Eren glanced at Annie. She looked back evenly, but her gaze wandered. She looked at Mikasa, and Eren followed Pyxis’ gaze out toward the territory past Wall Rose. After a long moment, they all looked at each other again.

“Let me clarify,” Pyxis said quietly. “Are you two _willing_ to do it?”

Annie thought only of Mikasa while she said, “Yes sir.”

Eren struggled with thought a moment, but said, “I don’t know how to do it, but I _will_ , sir!”

He came forward to pat them both on the shoulder. “Very good. We’ll get you a bit of food before we make the announcement. And,” he said, glancing at Eren’s ruined clothing, “we’ll get you a new uniform.”

“Announcement?” Armin said. “Sir, I was—that idea is just off the top of my head!”

“That doesn’t necessarily give it less merit,” Pyxis replied. He gestured to his staff, and once they had departed, he said, “Take a breather, cadets. We’ll be working hard soon enough.” He turned away, heading off to give more orders for the troops below.

“Annie,” Mikasa said, taking her arm, “sit down, okay?”

“Mikasa, I’m fine.”

“Please.”

She looked at the plea in Mikasa’s eyes, sighed softly, and started to comply. Her movement was stopped by Eren grabbing the front of her coat.

“What the fuck did you do to me?” he snarled. “How did you turn me into this thing?”

Annie held up a hand before Mikasa could grab him. When she had stopped moving, she turned to Eren and said, “I didn’t do anything to you, so I have no idea if punching you in the mouth is going to make you shift or not. I’d advise that you let go of me before I do that. Or before Mikasa does it, whichever comes first.”

Armin pulled on Eren’s arm. “Please, you two need to focus on resting until we move out.”

For a few seconds, it seemed as though Eren would shake him off and continue. One of his legs chose to buckle, and Mikasa pulled Annie out of the way when he pitched forward onto his knees. They all sat down as he held himself up on hands and knees, and they flinched when he let out a ragged, sobbing breath.

“I don’t understand what’s happening!” he said. “Why was I in a titan body? Why could you make one?” He sank down to sit on his heels with his spine curled, shaking his head while clutching his hair. “What happened to me to turn me into a monster like this?”

“Who knows?” Annie said lightly. “I don’t know why I’m a titan-shifter. At least it’s kept us all alive so far. It kept _you_ alive through being eaten.”

“Do you think I _want_ to be a titan-shifter?” he snapped. “All I’ve wanted for years is to kill every titan in the world! I didn’t train three years for this!” He thumped his chest, mouth open to continue, but he froze when he felt the leather cord of the necklace he wore. He scrambled to pull the necklace free of his shirt, staring with growing horror at the key he held.

“The cellar,” he whispered. “My dad told me to get back to the cellar in our house. There’s something vital to fighting the titans there. He…he injected me with something. Said it’d give me power to fight.” He grew pale again, eyes filling with tears and breath coming erratically. “Oh my God, he did this to me. He turned me into the same thing that killed my mom.”

Annie rolled her eyes, sneering, and grabbed Eren’s shirt. More gently than she wanted, she punched Eren across the face. When he looked at her, his breathing slowing down, she let go. “Stop panicking. You can worry about this existential crisis later. Right now we need to work on this plan and keep it from killing us. If we fuck up, we’re dead either because of titans or because the army kills us as traitors.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Mikasa said, taking hold of Annie’s elbow.

Annie did not smile at her, but brought her other hand up to lay it over Mikasa’s. “Look, Eren. You can’t fuck this up.”

“What, you won’t?” he said, scowling.

“No, because I know what I’m doing. I want to get through this.”

Eren stared at her, twitching when Armin grasped his hand. He sniffed hard, wiped his eyes and nose, and nodded slightly. “Okay. How do I do this?”

“Sit down properly and stay calm until they get us food and clothes. We need to be focused.”

His brows lowered as he sat down. “So that’s the trick to making a titan like you did down below?”

“Basically. You have to know what you want when you trigger the shift with an injury.” She looked out at the damaged gate and the boulder, barely visible through the smoke. Frowning, she said, “I don’t think we can carry that boulder at the same time. There’s going to be titans swarming on us and one of us needs to act as defense.”

“I have an idea about that,” Armin said. “If we have as many people as we can stay in the corner furthest from the gate, the titans should be drawn to the humans and ignore you and Eren.”

“For a while,” Annie grumbled. “They’ll be drawn to us anyway. And besides, the longer we stay in our titan bodies and the more we do with them, the harder it’s going to be to get out of them.”

Armin grew pale. “So we’d run the risk of you two being stuck when we complete the mission and need to get on the wall.”

“Right.” She looked over when Mikasa’s grip tightened.

“I’m not leaving you behind,” Mikasa said, brows low with anxiety.

“I’ll be fine.” She turned back to Eren. “So we have to treat this like we have a time limit, all right? You have to carry the boulder to the gate as fast as possible. I’m more experienced in fighting in my body, so I’ll guard you.”

“Not alone,” Mikasa said.

“I know,” Annie said quietly. “And probably some team of garrison elites.” She drew a deep breath. “Get that, Eren? As fast as possible. Then you can start worrying about what your dad did to you.”

Eren stared at her before turning out toward Trost. Tension filled his neck as he grit his teeth, brows furrowed. Voice low and full of fury, he said, “Right. We’ll drive every single one of them out and give humanity its first victory.”

Annie nodded, rubbing at the scorches beneath her eyes to try and force them to fade. Mikasa pulled her closer, but did not stop her. Armin held on to Eren’s hand, and they waited until Pyxis’ staff returned with food and clothes. They ate dutifully, but Annie felt the strain in her skin. When Armin and Eren moved away for Eren to change his clothes, Mikasa turned Annie about to look at her.

“Are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Mikasa asked.

“Look, if I _don’t_ do this, we’re all going to get killed,” Annie whispered. “The army knows that I’m completely sentient, so they’re never going to trust me enough to let me live unless I prove I won’t kill everyone.”

“But you saved me,” Mikasa said in protest. “And Armin and Eren—without hurting anyone. They can’t do that to you.”

“You know they can. It’ll be fine. I just…I need you to watch my neck when we get out there. Please.” There was no hesitation in Mikasa when she nodded, and Annie let herself relax slightly. She reached out, wishing she wasn’t so visibly timid, to catch Mikasa’s scarf and pull her close enough to kiss. Mikasa did not let her go far when she drew back, pulling her back for a hug tight enough to let Annie feel her fingers shaking. They sat there without speaking until Pyxis returned and cleared his throat.

“It’s time, cadets,” he said. “Leonhardt, Jaeger, come to the edge of the wall. Arlert, if you’ve come up with any new angles on the plan, give my staff the details.” Annie and Eren followed him closely, putting their arms behind their backs when he bellowed for the soldiers below to come to attention.

Annie did not listen to him or to the rabble that reacted to his speech. She focused on controlling her breathing, going through possibilities. Pyxis was given enough attention that she knew when to step forward with Eren and salute the soldiers, but she continued to look forward without expression. The chill in her spine became sharp and structured to make her thoughts clear. When they finally moved out, she was ready to run along the wall with the squad assigned to them as Armin explained their roles.

“Mikasa and I will be closest to Annie and Eren!” he said. “While Annie is going to act as Eren’s most direct defense, we’ll be assisting her in dispatching any titan threats! I know it’s a lot to ask, but we need your squad to act as a secondary line of defense and hold off other titans as much as possible!”

“That shouldn’t be a problem as long as you all keep up your end of the deal!” said Mitabi Jarnach. “But I want you to know that I’m not necessarily happy about being assigned to protect unknowns like so-called titan-shifters!”

“That’s enough!” Ian Dietrich shot back. “We’ve got orders, and this is our best chance of retaking Trost! We’ll be doing everything we can to hold any and all titans back!”

“You two have a lot riding on you!” Rico Brzenka said. “Don’t let all these soldiers’ lives be wasted!”

Annie ignored them, paying attention to Mikasa’s footfalls at her side. She did not turn to look at her because she needed to keep her feet steady beneath her. When they came near the boulder, they leapt from the wall to swing through the city, moving fast and not looking toward the swarms of titans gathered in the corner. When the boulder came into view, Eren bit down hard on his hand to trigger the shift. Annie jerked herself back with a cable to reduce her forward momentum before biting her hand, able to land on her feet as a titan while Eren went crashing into a building.

The garrison soldiers, Armin, and Mikasa alighted on another building, eyes wide as Eren extracted himself from the building. Annie stood by the boulder, looking around for any approaching titan. She glanced back as Eren lumbered to the boulder, eyes gleaming. When he did not move, she focused on him. He slowly turned toward her; his right arm was behind the boulder.

“Annie, look out!” Mikasa shouted.

Annie covered her forearm with crystal as she lifted it, and it took the brunt of Eren’s punch without breaking. She grabbed his wrist when he drew back, holding him in place to lay a right straight into his face after hardening her hand. He reeled, cheek torn away, and she grabbed him by the neck to slam him into the boulder. He slumped, steaming faintly from his face and his shattered hand.

“God _dammit_ ,” Mitabi hissed. “Of course it doesn’t work.”

“We have to keep trying!” Armin protested. “Annie, do you think you can carry the boulder on your own?” She shook her head, but pointed at Armin before crooking her finger. Brows coming together, he stepped to the edge of the building. He watched as Annie crouched down, pulling Eren’s head forward. She pointed to the back of Eren’s neck while staring at Armin.

Armin thought only for a moment before drawing a sharp breath. He took the offer of Annie holding up her hand, firing both cables into it and swinging out onto Eren’s slumped back. She stepped away as he anchored himself on Eren, looking at the others significantly before pointing toward the sound of heavy footsteps coming closer. They turned, seeing titans coming through the haze of smoke and dust.

“Please keep the titans away from here!” Armin shouted. “I think I know how to make Eren snap out of it—I just need time!”

The garrison soldiers looked to Ian, and he froze as he looked at the titans. As he hesitated, Annie started forward to draw the titans’ attention. Before she had taken three long steps, Mikasa had fired the cables of her ODM into her shoulder and pulled herself to stand there, blades drawn. As Annie came near a trio of titans, Mikasa released the cables to fire them into the forehead of one titan. She swung out on a burst of gas, wheeling into a spinning blow to slash through its weak spot. Annie took down the two others in the same time, ripping through their weak spots with crystal claws on her fingers. When she let them drop, she left one arm up near her shoulder for Mikasa to fire her cables into.

Staring at them, the garrison soldiers came out of shock, moving into action as Ian directed it. They were focused enough that they did not react to Eren’s sudden roar. Mikasa moved between the groups as they spread on either side of Annie, cutting through fingers to make titans drop captured soldiers. Annie paid attention to any nearby screams of panic, smashing her fists into titans to make them let go.

“Look sharp!” Rico shouted. “We’ve got an abnormal ready to jump!”

The words alone were enough to make the soldiers drop down to the rooftops, but Mikasa lingered in the air just long enough that the abnormal aimed at her. Annie shot between them, left arm getting caught in its jaws. There was no pain when the abnormal bit down and tore out most of the muscle and tendons in her elbow, but she heard Mikasa’s panicked scream and winced. She focused on forcing the wound to regenerate faster, but a four meter class titan came up behind her to bite down on her calf.

“ _Annie_!” Mikasa shouted. She swung down, slashing deeply into the titan’s neck to kill it before firing the cables into Annie’s shoulders. When she landed, she put her hand on Annie’s cheek. “Are you okay?” Annie nodded, shifting her focus to regenerate the chunk of her calf. She looked around as Mikasa did, seeing titans still coming. Mikasa whispered, “Oh God, what if we run out of gas again?”

There was nothing more Annie wanted to do than pull herself out of her body to tell Mikasa they’d make it. She almost did, but froze at the thunderous footsteps that began to shake the ground. They all turned, eyes growing wide at the sight of Eren on his feet, body steaming as the weight of the boulder on his back slowly tore his muscles and cracked his bones. Armin swung in, pale and shaking but eyes focused.

“He’s got it now!” he said. “We just need to keep him safe while he gets that boulder in place! We can do this, I swear! Just a little longer!”

The soldiers, to their credit, gaped only a moment before making a dash back to Eren. Annie ferried Mikasa to run ahead of Eren, cleaving through every titan in their way. When Annie had to protect the soldiers, she always held an arm up for Mikasa to use as a moving tower for her cables. It gave Mikasa every angle she needed to kill, and the soldiers escaped death for both of their efforts.

The gate came into view, as did the half dozen titans coming through the hole. Without hesitation, the soldiers swung out to draw the titans out of Eren’s path. Annie, Mikasa, and Armin did not leave him, Mikasa cutting down the titan that lingered before them. Eren pressed on, joints breaking and bleeding all the while. When it looked as though he would buckle, Armin screamed for him to keep going. Roaring loud enough to shake loose stones, Eren kept his footing and drove the boulder into the wall as deep as it could go.

For a few seconds, nothing moved. No one noticed when Rico fired the yellow flare to signal their success. Armin did not listen to Ian’s shouted order to scale the wall, swinging down onto Eren’s back when he collapsed against the boulder. Annie dropped to her knees nearby, bowing her head to try to get loose. Though the skin on the back of her neck melted away, she found herself stuck. She could could not pull free of the flesh, even as it started to sear her. A violent wrench only freed her face enough to breathe properly.

“Annie!” Armin shouted. “I can’t get Eren loose! He’s fused in!”

“ _Cut him out_!” she shouted back. She struggled, unable to get leverage or free her hands. “Mikasa, _help_!”

“I will, so hang on!” Mikasa replied. She threw off her coat and shoved her sleeves up to her elbows before plunging her arms into the burning flesh wrapped around Annie.

“Dammit, cut me loose! Don’t burn your arms for this!”

“I’m not cutting you! Just hang on!” She heaved hard, the sinew snapping strand by strand. She paused, inhaled deeply, and kept pulling.

Annie, with her legs still connected to the titan body, felt the rumble of footsteps before they heard them. She strained to look past Mikasa, seeing two titans approaching. “Mikasa, for God’s sake, _please_ cut me out! I’ll heal!”

Mikasa turned back, going pale, and ripped a burned arm out of the flesh to scramble for a blade. Before she could pull her other arm free, a blur of speed and blades catching the last of the sunlight fell from the sky. In the next ten seconds, the titans dropped dead to the ground, and a man landed lightly on one of their heads. He turned and raised a brow at them.

“All right,” Captain Levi drawled. “I hope you little bastards can explain what the hell’s going on here.”

Another person landed on Annie’s titan, moving in with blades drawn. Hanji Zoe said, “I’m sure they will, Levi, but we really should get them onto the wall.” They peered at Annie closely, gauging where to cut before slashing. Annie’s arms came out of the flesh, and two more cuts released her torso and legs. “All right, up we go!”

Mikasa did not allow Annie to try using her ODM with unsteady hands, carrying her up to the top of the wall as Armin managed the same with Eren’s unconscious body. Once they were safely at the top, Mikasa set Annie down gently. She knelt as Annie coughed and shook, body steaming. Hands vivid red and bleeding on the knuckles from the burns, she set her fingers on Annie’s face.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“F-fine,” Annie said. She looked at Mikasa’s arms, scowling at the damage on them. “Why did you do that?”

“I couldn’t risk hurting you.”

“I’ll be fine,” Annie said quietly. “I just need to rest.”

“Oh, I think we can give you some rest,” said a voice. Mikasa started to turn, but she was grabbed by her back brace and wrenched away from Annie. Annie tried to stand, but a booted foot slammed into the middle of her chest to knock her down. All at once, soldiers of the military police fell on her, rolling her over to bind her arms and hands. Though her instinct was to bite into her lip to trigger another shift, she kept herself from struggling. She let the soldiers haul her to her feet, realizing when she was upright that she did not have enough in her for anything more.

“Let her go!” Mikasa shouted, struggling to get free of the two soldiers holding her arms. “She just helped save all of us!”

“With all due respect, cadet Ackerman is telling the truth!” Ian said. “Leonhardt and Jaeger are heroes!”

“We’ll see,” an officer said. “Men—bring the prisoners.”

Annie was shoved forward; Eren was similarly bound and carried off by two soldiers. She turned to Mikasa, seeing her about to wrench her arms free, and shook her head. She murmured, “I’ll be fine.”

Mikasa froze, eyes desperate, but did not struggle further. She stood without knowing what to do when the MP soldiers let her go.

“Ackerman, was it?” asked Hanji. They sheathed their blades and took hold of Mikasa’s upper arm, lifting it to examine the burns. “I’ve never seen damage done by the extreme heat of a titan’s musculature. Fascinating.” They leaned close to stare at Mikasa’s eyes. “What other secrets does your friend know?”

“It’s not really going to matter if the fucking MP kills her,” Mikasa spat, pulling her arm away.

Hanji smiled. “I think the scouts might be able to persuade them.” Turning, they said, “Don’t you think, Levi?”

“Depends,” he said. “Maybe you can convince Erwin to help. It’s not my problem.”

“Go jump off the wall,” Mikasa snarled, and she stormed away with no destination in mind. Armin did not follow, still staring at the MP in the distance. Hanji patted him gently on the back before heading after Mikasa. They were joined a few paces later by a small auburn haired woman, coming up along the wall from within Trost.

“Hanji, good lord, do you know what happened down there?” she asked.

“Not yet, but I think this girl I’m hunting may have some answers.”

The woman rolled her eyes and pulled Hanji’s goggles up onto their forehead. “And now that you’ve said that you’re hunting her, I’m going to go talk to her and make you seem less terrifying.”

“Petra!” Hanji said, voice pitching high. “Two cadets came out of titans that they could control! I have to have them, and I think Ackerman is instrumental in getting them!”

Petra put her fingers on Hanji’s lips. “I know. I’ll do my best. Just wait for a bit and see if you can get Erwin behind the idea.” When Hanji continued to pout, Petra stood up on her toes to give her a quick kiss. “Go on.” Once Hanji had gone some distance, Petra tracked down Mikasa, who had taken a seat on the wall staring out at the lost territory beyond Trost.

“Do you need anything, cadet Ackerman?” she asked, sitting down beside her.

“I need Annie,” Mikasa grumbled.

“I was more referring to those remarkable burns on your arms. Here, let me take a look.” She tugged on Mikasa’s sleeve to make her turn. Petra frowned at the cracking skin on her arms and the blood starting to well up through the cracks. “‘Remarkable’ is the right word. You should get that attended to. Come on.”

Mikasa refused to move for a moment, but the gentle smile Petra showed her was enough to let her stand. She followed Petra along the wall until they found medical supplies, and sat silently while Petra washed off and dressed the burns. All the while, she never flinched or made a sound. Her eyes remained aimed at her feet, and when Petra let her go, she looked in the direction that the MP had gone.

“We have to get her back,” she said quietly. “She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“The MP has its own job to perform to keep the peace,” Petra said. “I expect there’s going to be a tribunal with a situation like this.”

“Annie didn’t _do anything_!” Mikasa snapped. “Not once since we met! Now she’s helped save Trost and they’re going to kill her!”

Petra patted her on the back. “I understand. But short of breaking her out of wherever they’re holding her and the boy—which you shouldn’t do because it’ll only make things worse—the best thing you can do is file as detailed a report as you can to make the tribunal know that she’s an ally. I’m sure Hanji and the commander will make a case to bring both of them into the scout regiment so we can use their abilities.”

Mikasa sat without moving or breathing for a while. The sun moved closer to the horizon. While her back lost the warmth of the sun, the lingering heat of fires and titans in the city below kept her front warm. Her mind drifted to the barracks at the training grounds and how she had tended to find Annie burrowed up against her in the morning. She drew her exhausted legs to her chest, bowed her head, and held on to her ankles as she cried.

xx

Before they were allowed near the edge of the wall again, black bags were pulled over Annie and Eren’s heads. Annie did not struggle, and followed every shove and every snarled direction without reacting. They went down in a lift, and then went along a path Annie did not recognize. They went down stairs outside, into a wooden building that was frigid and silent, and down yet more stairs that turned to stone that all but radiated cold. When metal creaked and crunched against itself, Annie knew they were being put into a dungeon.

She waited by while Eren was taken care of, guessing that he had been deposited in a bed and his arms shackled down. Her treatment was not so delicate: the soldiers forced her to sit in a harsh wooden chair where her ankles were locked to the chair legs. Heavy manacles were closed on her wrists, and the chains on them were only long enough to let her put her elbows on her thighs and raise her hands no higher than her knees. Even if she thought to bend down to bite her hands, a thick metal collar was put on her neck, and it was held by chains that would allow her to settle back against the chair, but not lean forward.

The bag was pulled roughly from her head, and she blinked quickly at the blinding light of torches in the walls beyond the bar. The soldier that had bound her peered closely at her face. She knew it was scorched again, and that sweat was clinging to her skin. The bag had knocked out the last of the pins holding her hair in a bun, so her hair hung around her face and stuck to her brow. The soldier pushed her face from side to side with the back of his hand, looking for something she did not know.

“Hard to believe a tiny thing like you can become a titan,” he said. “But reports are reports.” He turned to the other soldiers in the cell. “Boys, we’re done here for now.”

“How long before the trial?” Annie asked.

The man paused. “What makes you think that’s what you’re getting?”

“Why else wouldn’t you be killing us?” Annie replied. “I’m not going to try and run. I just want to know.”

He sighed through his nose. “Three days. The commander-in-chief should be here by then.” He frowned and took the rifle from his shoulder. He brought it to bear against Annie’s forehead. “You damn well better not try to escape. I don’t care how tiny you are. If worse comes to worse, you’re getting a shot between the eyes.”

“I know,” Annie said faintly. “I won’t try.” She remained still when he took the rifle away, and did not flinch when the cell door was swung shut. Everything grew quiet after two soldiers were posted by the cell; even Eren’s breathing was nearly inaudible. Annie let her body curl forward as much as the collar would allow, staring at the floor. By the light of the torches, she could see that the leather of her boots had bubbled slightly in the heat of her body. Glancing at her sleeves showed char, but she could not check for damage on her scarf.

Sighing, she tested which was the more comfortable position. Sitting upright made sense, but she knew she would fall asleep soon enough and falling into the collar was unappealing. She settled into the slack of the chains and closed her eyes to try and rest. No matter how she tried to clear her mind to sleep, her thoughts kept going to Mikasa. All she wanted, sitting there in the cold and chained up, was to go back to their small house in the woods and keep waking up with Mikasa teasing her for cuddling in her sleep.

She was pulled from her hoping by Eren’s gasp, though she did not know how long it had been. She turned as he sat up, and he stared at her in her chair. “A-Annie? What’s…what’s going on?”

“Well,” said a man past the bars, “that all depends.”

They turned to Commander Erwin sitting in a chair against the opposite wall, Levi standing next to him.

“C-Commander?” Eren said. “Sir, what’s going on? Why are we chained up?”

“The MP wasn’t sure what to do with a pair of titan-shifters,” Erwin replied. “Though they did decide to have a tribunal to determine what your fates are. I have a question related to that.” He lifted the key necklace, turning it to catch the light of the torches. “Your friend Armin said that you think this key to your house’s cellar in Shinganshina is vital to the war we’re fighting. That it contains crucial information about the titans. Is this true?”

“It’s—it’s true that I believe it, sir,” Eren said. “My father never told me what was down there, and I’m only starting to remember what happened after we came inside Wall Rose.”

“Uh huh,” Levi said. “Nice timing for your father to vanish around the same time. And for you to forget everything.”

“Levi,” Erwin said warningly. “There’s no reason for him to lie and you know it.” His gaze turned to Annie. “But I don’t know much about you. You come out of nowhere with the ability to completely control a titan body, along with abilities we’ve never seen before in titans. You went through a full course of military training, but not once did you come forward with this information. What was your intent when you completed your training?”

Annie said nothing. Eventually, she admitted, “I wanted to get into the MP and get away from the titans so I’d never have to shift and risk people killing me as a monster.”

“And what is your desire now that you’ve been revealed so publicly?”

Quietly, voice breaking, Annie said, “I just want to go home with Mikasa.”

“Are you willing to cooperate with us to achieve that goal?” Erwin asked.

“I’ll do whatever you want if it means we can take Shinganshina back.”

“What about you, Jaeger? What do you want to do?”

Annie did not lift her head, but she could picture Eren’s expression when he snarled, “I want to join the scouts and kill every titan that I come across.”

Levi hummed. He strode to the bars, laying his forearm across them to stare at the both of them. “Well said, runts. I’ll allow you into the regiment for that. And besides—who better to put you two with than me? If you go berserk…well, my record speaks for itself. Welcome to the scout regiment.”

xx

“Mikasa, please stop fidgeting,” Armin said. He caught the loosest part of her coat sleeve to make her stop standing on her toes. “It’ll be okay. Annie and Eren have all those reports that the garrison soldiers filed about their mission. Our reports, too. And Commander Pyxis is here, too, so maybe he can give a statement. Just—take a good deep breath. They’ll be here really soon.”

She stared at him, but eventually settled down. She breathed evenly through her nose, making sure to not look at her bandaged hands and arms. Though she heard the buzz and chatter of the courtroom, she did not listen. She thought about the ring in her pocket and how it had not left her since it was carefully pried from her burnt finger. Waiting wore on her, but she did not have the luxury of twisting her fingers with worry.

“Mikasa,” Armin whispered, tugging her coat. “Look, look up.”

She turned to find a group of MP soldiers leading Annie and Eren into the courtroom, hands bound behind them. Complacently, they moved to the center of the room and allowed the soldiers to slot posts through the gaps in their chains. The posts were affixed to the floor, and they knelt there facing toward the head of the courtroom. Eren looked around, pale and anxious, but his eyes widened on seeing Armin. He whispered for Annie to look up, and Mikasa smiled when Annie met her gaze. Annie tried to return it, but a gavel was brought down to make the room go silent.

“This tribunal,” said Commander-in-chief Darius Zackly, “is now in session. Its purpose is to determine the best course of action to take with cadets Annie Leonhardt and Eren Jaeger. We will first hear the military police. Commander Nile Dok, step forward.”

He did so, documents in his hands and a scowl on his face. “It is the opinion of the MP that both of the shifters be dissected for scientific purposes before being executed.”

Armin moved before Mikasa could speak, grabbing her forearm and squeezing on where he knew it would hurt. When she glared at him, he whispered, “We’re not going to help if we just yell at him. Wait until we actually have a chance to speak.”

She scowled, but only tugged her arm free. “Fine.”

“There is no guarantee that either of these shifters will always be in perfect control,” Dok continued. “Our reports state that Jaeger’s titan _did_ attack Leonhardt’s titan during the mission to retake Trost. With such massive power, we cannot run the risk of them going berserk in populated areas and decimating the human race even further.”

“With all due respect,” Erwin said, stepping forward in the scout regiment’s booth, “the boy’s brief lapse in concentration proves how invaluable both he and cadet Leonhardt are.”

“And how’s that?” Dok said.

“We have detailed reports from the two cadets who helped pull off the mission, as well as from the elite garrison soldiers that Commander Pyxis assigned there, that cadet Leonhardt was able to stop Jaeger’s attack and disable him before he did any damage. More than that, she was able to direct cadet Arlert to getting Jaeger back under control. Add to this all the effort she put into saving the lives of these soldiers under extreme duress when it would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to let them all die, and I do not see a titan intent on destroying humanity. I see a soldier who has a talent unlike any we have seen thus far.”

“Putting all your eggs in one basket, aren’t you, Smith?” Dok asked, scowling all the more. “That’s quite a lot to put on one little girl.”

“Not particularly,” Erwin replied. He turned to Annie. “Cadet Leonhardt!”

She lifted her head. “Yes sir?”

“Would you be able to teach cadet Jaeger to have as much control over his titan form as you do?”

“I would, sir.”

He nodded and looked at Eren. “Cadet Jaeger!”

He straightened as much as he could. “Sir!”

“Would you be able to follow cadet Leonhardt’s instructions to gain control over your titan form?”

“Sir, yes sir!

Erwin nodded again before smirking at Dok. “I think that’s a good start.”

Dok’s scowl darkened, but before he could speak, a priest at his right side spoke up. “This is absolute nonsense! The longer we allow these demons to reside this close to our holy walls, the more we risk God’s wrath!”

Armin’s face pulled with disgust. So only Mikasa could hear, he grumbled, “Wonderful, we needed the church involved in deciding if people die.”

Darius waved a hand to silence the priest. “Commander Dok, what have you heard of the people?”

“Sir, every living civilian is aware of the fact that these two exist, and we _do_ run the risk of civil unrest the longer we leave the shifters alive. There’s been talk of uprisings to capture the shifters and have them fight against the crown.”

“We wouldn’t do anything of the sort, sir!” Eren said, struggling against his chains. “All we want is—”

Levi had vaulted smoothly out of the booth when Eren opened his mouth, and concluded his walk by punching Eren hard across the face. Eren slumped, mouth bleeding, and the faintest click of a tooth on the ground could be heard. He looked at Levi, but Levi put his boot flat on Eren’s face.

“No one said you could speak,” Levi said.

“Commander Pyxis, what is your opinion on the matter?” Darius asked.

Pyxis cleared his throat and gestured out toward the booth Mikasa and Armin stood in. “The soldiers there have the most information on being allied with the shifters. Dietrich, Brzenka, please tell us about your experience in Trost.”

Ian stepped forward and snapped a quick salute to Darius. “I will admit that we had our reservations about fighting alongside titans, shifters or not, but the battle proved that cadets Leonhardt and Jaeger are supremely valuable assets.”

“Furthermore,” Rico said, stepping forward, “Cadets Leonhardt and Ackerman are as in tune as you could ever hope to see in soldiers, and Leonhardt’s titan form was a perfect moving building for Ackerman to use her ODM gear with. Should the right squad be assigned, it could be possible to use ODM gear on flatter land with no buildings or trees. That opportunity would only increase if Jaeger is allowed to learn control.”

“Where would they be placed?” Darius asked.

Erwin saluted him. “Sir, place them in the scout regiment and we will have have the ability to close Wall Maria and retake it and Shinganshina, just as we did with Trost. We could clear the territory and restore it to humanity.”

Darius said nothing, staring at Annie and Eren. “And what guarantee can you make that you can keep them under control?”

“Oh,” Levi said, lowering his leg to grab Eren’s hair, “I think I can show you.” Eren’s panicked face was only visible for a moment before Levi lay into him with punches, kicks, and knees driven into his chest or chin. Only when his mouth and nose were bloody did Levi stop, and he turned his attention to Annie.

Annie sighed and muttered, “Fine, get it over with.” The front of her hoodie was grabbed to wrench her off of her knees. Levi delivered a beating to her as well, going as far as to snap a rib and her nose. She never once struggled, and she settled on her knees when he let her go. She glanced over at the sound of a choked snarl, seeing Rico and Ian holding Mikasa back from leaping out of the booth to attack Levi.

Levi took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his knuckles. “Sir, I believe that we all know that I would be the best person to deal with both of them if they ever went rogue. Why not take advantage of their abilities for as long as possible and leave them in my regiment’s capable hands?”

Darius sighed. “Commander Erwin, do I have your word that you will do your duty should they ever go out of control?”

He saluted one more. “Sir, yes sir! My regiment will ensure the safety and restoration of humanity!”

For a long while, Darius said nothing. He tapped his brow slowly, lightly, before taking up his gavel. “It is this court’s decision that cadets Leonhardt and Jaeger will be placed in the custody of the scout regiment and allowed to use their abilities for the betterment of mankind. Dismissed.”

Before the crack of the gavel had fully faded, Mikasa was out of the booth and helping Annie to her feet when the chains were unlocked. “Annie, oh my God, are you okay?”

Annie coughed weakly into her sleeve, feeling blood splatter there. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Mikasa turned to glare at Levi with an intense hatred Annie had never seen before. “That midget’s _dead_ if he does that again.”

She caught Mikasa’s sleeve and tugged. “Mikasa, try not to threaten my new handler, okay?”

Mikasa said nothing, but looked away from Levi. When she saw the bruise rising over Annie’s eye, her fury abated. “Come on, let’s get something to clean you up.”

“Right,” Annie sighed. They turned, but were stopped suddenly by Hanji and Petra coming before them.

“That’s all a relief, isn’t it?” Hanji asked. “Come along with us—we can find something to tidy you all up. Food and clothes, too”

They followed after Hanji and Petra, and Armin and Eren came behind them. Mikasa took hold of Annie’s hand, gentle though she had to be with her burns.

“Guess I’m in the scout regiment,” Annie said quietly.

“At least you won’t be alone,” Mikasa said with a small smile.

Annie looked at her and felt tension leave her. Smiling as well, she said, “Yeah. At least I won’t be alone.”

XX


	11. A Blade on the Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saw [this comic on pixiv](http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=44369529) and got bitten by a thought really obnoxiously hard. Thus, the oneshot adventure of Mikasa the human medium and Annie the _kama itachi_.
> 
> No clue if I'll continue this at some point.

Mikasa Ackerman left her adoptive brother and their best friend in the hostel room that morning. Armin was still recovering from his horrible jet lag, too excited to sleep either on the flight from Seattle to Tokyo or the first two nights. Eren had gotten himself incredibly drunk in their karaoke booth the night before, to the point that Mikasa had carried him up the three flights of stairs to their room. It was raining when she woke, and she decided to take the opportunity to be alone. Leaving behind a note, she went to the nearest convenience store and bought a clear vinyl umbrella for less than five hundred yen.

The train was not as busy as she would’ve thought for early on a Tuesday, but she still wasn’t caught up on if there were holidays going on. It had been an impulse journey, one they’d all talked about for years. Eren and Armin had simply produced three tickets and a booking for a hostel room large enough for three in Asakusa at the start of February, saying that it would be the most extravagant birthday celebration they could give her for her twenty-first.

She checked her phone when the train stopped at Ebisu station. It was quarter past eight, but she did not expect either of the boys to call her. She slipped her phone back into her purse, pulled her scarf higher on her neck against the cold wind coming through the closing door, and checked the overhead train map again. The next stop on the Yamanote line was Shibuya, and from there she would switch over to the Fukutoshin subway.

It all went easily; she was their acting translator to get around Tokyo. She came above ground at Meiji-jingumae station, opening her umbrella as went to the crosswalk. The rain was still pouring as she stepped through the great torī marking the entrance to the Meiji shrine. Once she set foot on the grounds, though, the noise of the rain on her umbrella was nearly silenced. The massive trees lining the roads inward blocked out the wind and the rain for the most part, and it was not quite as cold.

Very few people were at the shrine that morning. No weddings were scheduled that day, and she stood alone at the heart of the shrine in the end. The rain fell hard on the roof, and she held a five hundred yen coin in her hand to give it as an offering. Mikasa looked at the coin, unsure what to pray for on a birthday like this. The rain noise grew louder, and a fierce gust of wind ruffled her skirt and made her umbrella tip. Quickly, she grabbed the umbrella and pulled it back against her hip.

With the handle in her grasp, she felt something strike the umbrella violently, and something screeched on metal for a moment. She looked down, finding a massive diagonal slash on the umbrella. The vinyl was cut and falling over; even the metal bracing was mangled. Mikasa stared, lifting the umbrella slowly to look at it.

“What the hell?” she whispered. She looked around, but only saw the rainfall. Waiting did nothing but set an edge in her spine. Sighing hard, she turned back to the shrine. As she fiddled with the coin, turning it over along her fingers, she muttered, “I guess I need to keep this for a new umbrella.” She bowed to the shrine, saying, “ _Moshiwake arimasen_.”

The return trip through the shrine’s forest was not terrible, but passing through the torī left her exposed to the deluge the storm had become. She hurried back to the shelter of the subway entrance, managing to avoid getting too soaked. On the stairs, she looked at her ruined umbrella again. A second examination showed that the metal was not twisted, but cut perfectly.

“Wait, what?” she said. “That was just _wind_.” Her brows lowered, but then rose. “Oh. I see.” She chuckled. “Not many people have run-ins with _yōkai_ their first time in Japan. Aren’t I lucky.” A smile came to her as she looked around for another convenience store. A sign for one was at a nearby corner, and she waited until the nearest crosswalk turned blue before dashing out from the subway. Before slipping inside, she stuffed the broken umbrella into the trashcan outside the store.

The attendant greeted her, smiling with sympathy at her wet clothes. Mikasa nodded to the man, but did not go immediately to the umbrellas. She wandered the small aisles for a time to let her scarf dry, looking through the cheap food because the morning had caught up to her and her stomach. As she lingered, she heard the door open again, but only paid heed because of the wind that made the attendant yelp in the middle of his greeting. She glanced over and saw a short young woman in a damp white hoodie hurry inside. The sight of blonde hair and blue eyes made Mikasa raise a brow, but she said nothing and looked back to the bag of koala-shaped bread in her hands.

“Fucking rain,” she heard beside her.

Mikasa looked again, seeing the blonde next to her and peering at the bread. She smiled and said, “Honestly, I’d curse the wind more than the rain. It tends to wreck umbrellas.”

The woman said nothing, looking away as a scowl pulled at her lips and wrinkled her large nose.

“At least I had that five hundred yen coin to buy a new one, right?” Mikasa said. Her brows rose quickly at the sight of the blonde’s shoulders rising and appearing to lose focus. Their curve grew first ill-defined with the softness of gleaming white fur, and then ragged with sharp, bladed edges.

“How did you stop it?” the woman snarled, showing fangs in her mouth. “What _are_ you?”

“Oh, just a human,” Mikasa replied, setting the bag down casually. “I didn’t think there were _yōkai_ that don’t look Japanese.” She smiled and said, “You’re the second of the trio, aren’t you?”

The fury in the woman’s face broke suddenly for shock; her shoulders returned to normal. “W-what?

“The _kama itachi_. You’re the blade.”

The woman continued to stare. “You…you know what I am?”

“Your shoulders were a dead giveaway just now.”

She blushed darkly, checking her shoulders quickly. “ _Dammit_.”

“You’re fine,” Mikasa said. Her smile grew wider with excitement. “I really never thought I’d meet any spirits anywhere, much less the first time I visit Japan.”

“You _wouldn’t_ have met any if you hadn’t done whatever you did,” the woman grumbled. “What _did_ you do?”

“Nothing,” Mikasa said. “You just hit my umbrella instead of my leg.”

“That cheap piece of shit in the garbage?” the woman said, sneering. “No way in any layer of hell does that stop my blade. _You_ did something, and I want to know what.”

Mikasa looked at her, brows up. “I really didn’t do anything. It’s not like I’ve ever studied _yōkai_ in-depth, much less how to have an effect on them.”

The woman sighed through her nose. She stuck one hand in her hoodie pocket, muttered, “Fine,” and grabbed Mikasa’s scarf to drag her out of the convenience store. Mikasa couldn’t think to protest, even when they walked straight into the pouring rain. Before she knew it, they were back beyond the torī and headed down a path tucked away from the main entrance. It was nearly invisible with wet leaves; their footprints were filled with rainwater immediately and were quickly washed away.

Sense came rushing back into Mikasa’s mind when she could no longer see any part of the path or even the gift shop. She pulled hard against the woman’s grip, and she was released quickly. Mikasa said, “Wait, what the hell are you doing?”

The woman stared at her hand, brows low. She looked up and replied, “I’m going to find out what you did to block my blade. Why else would I bring you here?”

“To _where_ , a waterlogged forest?”

“My home.”

“I’m not sitting in mud.”

The woman sighed hard, grabbed Mikasa’s scarf again, and pulled her along through through the forest. The trees stopped suddenly, showing a traditional house standing above the muddy ground. Mikasa gaped at it, and stood still under the rain when the woman let her scarf go and headed to the house.

“Come on before you freeze in the rain,” the woman said.

Mikasa stared for a moment longer, but followed in a hurry. She stepped up onto the veranda, feeling a spark go down her spine as both feet settled on the wood. The rain noise grew muffled, and the air was warm. She looked at her hand as the water dried. “What the hell just happened?”

“What do you think happened?” the woman asked. She shook her head and shoulders, sighing as her clothes began to dry. “You’re in a house of spirits. Why would we let ourselves stay wet and cold?”

“‘We’?” Mikasa said. She looked around. “Are the other two here?”

“No,” the woman groaned, stretching up on her toes. “They like taking walks in the rain. All they did was tell me to not kill you.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “Why would you kill me?”

The woman sneered, showing her fangs once more. “You have no idea how shameful it is for me to have my blade stopped. That’s never happened before.” She lifted one arm, hand growing bright, silver, and curved as a blade. The edge gleamed, and she advanced on Mikasa. “You owe me an explanation, or you owe me blood.”

Mikasa exhaled, dropped her purse smoothly, and lunged forward to grab the woman’s hoodie. Red electrical sparks came off her hand, making the woman’s arm spasm and return to a human hand. Before the woman could look startled, Mikasa spun, throwing the woman over her shoulder and into a sliding door. The door popped out of its groove, and the woman tumbled away into the far wall. The woman sat upright slowly, and they stared at each other in utter shock.

The woman looked at her hands and whispered, “ _What_ —”

Mikasa held up her hands. “I have no idea, I swear. I don’t—I don’t know what I did other than the throw.” She hesitated, grabbed her purse, and went inside the room. Kneeling down, she said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to get hurt.”

The woman looked at her again. “You’re a medium.”

“I’m what?”

Slowly, carefully enough that Mikasa did not try to resist, she moved closer and took one of Mikasa’s hands. She put their fingertips together, staring as red electricity arced between them. “I can’t believe this.”

Mikasa stared just as much, feeling the arcing energy. It did not sting or burn, and it seemed to be the same for the woman. “What’s going on?”

“You’re a human who can directly interact with spirits and exert the same kind of energy against us. You resist any attack from spirits.” Her brows came down. “I’ve never seen a medium. Is there a history of this in your bloodline?”

“Not to my knowledge.” She gingerly took the woman’s hand entirely, seeing the energy wind around their hands. The woman shivered, but did not pull her hand away. “Now what’s happening?”

“I don’t—I don’t know. It feels like you’re…I don’t know, holding the energy in my hand. It’s weird.”

Mikasa thought, took a breath, but hesitated all the same. “What happens now?”

“I really don’t know.” Softly, she said, “Let go.”

Mikasa did so abruptly. “Sorry.”

She pulled her hand close, rubbing her palm. “What the fuck?”

She thought, rubbing her thumb against her forefinger. “What’s your name?”

Distracted, she admitted, “Annie.”

“Do you still want my blood?”

Annie shook her head. “I have an explanation.” She looked up. “What’s _your_ name?”

“Mikasa Ackerman.”

Her gaze fell. “Then you’re probably not living in Japan.”

“No,” she murmured. “I’m on a two week trip.” She sighed. “Now I don’t want to leave.”

Annie hummed. She regarded the floor, regarded Mikasa, and moved closer again. Quick as wind, she leaned in and kissed Mikasa. It sent a sharp spark down their spines, strong enough that Mikasa could not pull back. When Annie drew away, she kept close enough that energy arced across the space between their lips.

“What was that for?” Mikasa asked, feeling heat in her cheeks.

“Wanted to see what it would feel like.”

“And? How was it?”

After a moment, she said, “Really nice.” She sighed and sat back with her legs crossed. “Sorry. You can go.”

“Wait a minute,” Mikasa said, frowning. “You’re show me you’re a _yōkai_ , tell me I’m a medium—and then just expect me to leave? What happens if I get attacked by something else?”

“I said that you can resist any attack from us, didn’t I?”

“ _How_ , exactly? I’m pretty sure you still would’ve cut me if my umbrella didn’t get in the way. Am I supposed to stay on guard the rest of my life?”

“Isn’t that what humans do anyway? You’re all so ready to kill each other over the smallest things.”

Mikasa stared at her a moment longer, sighed, and rubbed her forehead. “Fine. I’ll leave.” She took to her feet, picking up her purse, and went to the edge of the room. “I don’t suppose you have an umbrella to spare so I can get back to Asakusa without getting soaked?”

Annie rolled her eyes, waggled her hand, and a blue umbrella popped into existence in her grasp. “It’ll vanish when the rain stops. Just go straight from here and you’ll get back to the shrine.”

Mikasa nodded and reached out to catch the tossed umbrella. It crackled when it touched her hand, turning the same shade of red as the electricity that had left her skin. They stared at it a moment before Annie grumbled wordlessly and waved her away. With nothing else to do, Mikasa opened the umbrella and stepped off the veranda. She walked without turning back, barely listening to the rain on the umbrella. A few minutes was all it took to return to the shrine, and she stood staring out toward the gates.

One foot turned, but she stopped partway. Glancing over her shoulder revealed only trees; she could not see the house or Annie. Uncertain, she looked at the umbrella’s handle. It was smooth wood, a deeper red than the metal and the fabric. She did not know the source of the disappointment that welled up in her throat, and she sighed softer than the rain noise. The only reason she lingered further was to go to the shrine with the five hundred yen coin in hand.

She tossed the coin into the offering box, watching it bounce against the wood beams over the opening. When it landed with a clink among the other coins, she clapped her hands twice gently and closed her eyes. She prayed for the wellness of the spirits residing in the area, and went off with her eyes on the road ahead. The rain continued on even as she reached the streets. Checking her phone revealed no messages or missed calls, though she did not expect any. Mikasa sighed, thought, and drummed her fingers on the umbrella’s handle. She felt sparks of energy pop under her fingers at this, and sighed again.

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered. She went back through the subway to return to Shibuya station, and planned out a rainy trip out to the Ueno zoo on the Yamanote line. An entire short bench seat in the corner was open in the car she boarded, and she sat down with heavy shoulders and a furrowed brow. She examined the umbrella’s handle more closely, seeing the whorls of the wood and feeling the lacquer on it. Glancing about to check the few people in the car with her, she ran one nail along a dark line in the wood.

Electricity coiled around her finger and crept up along her hand, warm like the wind in summer. She took her hand away when the train stopped and the doors opened, feeling her finger with her other hand. Mikasa exhaled slowly, but then looked out the window. She could see the rainclouds beginning to part in the distance. Dejected, she leaned back and stared at the umbrella for the rest of the trip. She got off the train silently, sullenly, and started toward the end of the platform.

The skin on the back of her neck crawled when she reached the stairs. She glanced back with the wind, seeing a woman with wavy brown hair walking casually in her direction. Mikasa frowned and headed up the stairs to leave the station. Her skin crawled again at the top of the stairs, all up and down her right side. Another glance showed her two men, one with a scraggly beard and mustache and the other with lank blond hair. She turned away and went outside, opening the umbrella as she went.

If she was honest, she would’ve chosen the zoo. There were sure to be more people there, but something about the trio made her turn away from the public and head along a long, wide road lined with cherry trees not yet in bloom. At the soonest opportunity, she went down a much smaller side road. Before she got far, the woman leapt lightly out a tree ahead of her. She stopped and turned, knowing the men would be behind her.

“All right, what do you want?” she asked.

“You came from the Meiji shrine,” the man with the mustache said.

“What’s your point?”

The woman sauntered closer to her, smiling as her hair dripped in the rain. “Which are you, wind or blade?”

Mikasa put a hand to her brow. “Dammit. Neither.”

“Oh, the wound-sealer then,” the blond man said.

“What, really?” the woman said. “What about what you’re holding?”

“My _umbrella_?” she said severely.

“It’s got a blade’s energy all over it,” the woman said.

“Regardless,” the man with the mustache said. “You came from the Meiji shrine. You’re far from home.”

“I have no idea why I should care about what you three are talking about,” Mikasa said. “Leave me alone.”

“If you’re this far from home,” the man said, “it’s basically saying you’re giving up the territory. That true?”

“It’s not my territory to give,” Mikasa said. “And I can’t believe we’re still having this conversation. I’m not a _yōkai_. I’m just a human.”

The woman’s pouty frown vanished and became a scowl. “You’re a human and you can handle energy like that?”

“Oh,” the blond man said softly. “A medium. Those are rare these days.”

“Then we’ll have an in,” the other man said. “Hitch, grab her.”

The woman smirked. “Gladly.”

Mikasa scowled, able to see Hitch start to sprint at her. She let go of the umbrella, not caring to watch which way it fell. She drew her hand back, curling it into a fist, and stepped into throwing a punch that landed on Hitch’s face. Red lightning cracked off from her knuckles, throwing Hitch off her feet entirely and back into the forest.

Mouth falling open, Mikasa looked at her hand. Lightning coiled all up her arm; the umbrella was nowhere in sight. The two men stared at her, and in that moment of bafflement, a whirlwind swept in around them. While it ruffled Mikasa’s skirt and hair, it blinded the men with rain and knocked them off their feet. Before they could open their eyes, feet came down heavily on their chests to hold them down. Mikasa turned toward the forest in time to see Hitch being thrown bodily from the trees to land hard at her feet.

“Thanks,” Annie said flatly, coming from the forest. “We’ve been trying to get these assholes out in the open for weeks.” She strode up as Hitch tried to get up, slamming her foot down on her back. “No, you stay there. Reiner?”

The massive blond man nodded to her before looking at the man under his foot. “So. You three want to take our place here in Tokyo?”

None of them spoke.

Reiner frowned. He looked at the man next to him, tall and dark and frowning. “Bertholdt?”

His frown deepened. “Well. It’s hard to say. Why do you three want Tokyo? You look like you belong in Japan even less than we do.”

“What spirit _wouldn’t_ want Tokyo?” Hitch grumbled. “You get all the money you can take from the Meiji shrine _and_ respect.”

“Doesn’t seem like we command that much respect,” Annie said, grinding her heel on Hitch’s back, “if you three idiots decided that you can just come in and take our place.”

“To be fair,” Bertholdt said, “they’re not the first to try and take our place this year.”

Reiner grunted. “You have a point. We have been getting a number of attacks lately.”

“Why don’t you just make a home somewhere else?” Mikasa asked before she could stop herself. The trio looked at her, brows raised. She was suddenly aware of the fact that her arm was still surrounded with lightning, but did not know how to change that. “It wouldn’t be that hard to live in a different part of Japan, or somewhere else in the world if you’re not bound to this country. You all look like foreigners anyway.”

The trio looked to each other. Slowly, in unison, they lifted their feet. Annie put her hands in her hoodie pocket, moving to stand to one side as Reiner and Bertholdt did the same.

After a long moment, Annie turned slightly. She said, “Sure. Take it, if that’s what you really want. I’m tired of having to cut people.” She walked away, heading up the avenue toward a small shrine. Reiner and Bertholdt made no move to follow her, instead moving back toward the main road. Mikasa blinked to clear her eyelashes of rain and eventually went after Annie. She had stopped at the shrine, looking at the small weather-worn building.

“That wasn’t an umbrella you made, was it,” Mikasa said, stopping beside her.

“No,” Annie sighed. “It was just an energy construct. Looks like it really latched onto you.”

“Can you at least make it go away so I don’t electrocute everything I touch?”

“Just tell it to piss off for a while.” Mikasa stared at her blankly, looked at the red lightning on her arm, and looked back to Annie. Annie noticed, rolled her eyes, and took Mikasa’s right wrist. The lightning did not touch her, and she lifted Mikasa’s hand to bite the tip of her index finger. Mikasa hissed, pulling her hand back, but stared when the lightning rushed to the wound and vanished. The bite remained, bleeding.

“Thanks for that,” Mikasa muttered.

“Made it go away, didn’t it?” She caught Mikasa’s hand again, bringing her finger to her mouth to hold it against her tongue. The sting of the bite faded, and the bleeding had stopped when she brought her finger out of her mouth. She looked at it curiously, gave it one last lick, and let Mikasa’s hand go. “Your blood tastes bizarre.”

“I would assume, if I’m a medium and you’re a _yōkai_.”

Annie shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.”

They were quiet for a while, looking at the shrine. The rain slowed around them, eventually fading into a faint drizzle. When the wind in the sky carried off the rainclouds completely, Annie drew a deep breath and stretched her back.

“Where are you and the others going to go now?” Mikasa asked. “Are you going to stay together?”

“I don’t really know. I think we’d be fine separated. My blade’s sharpest and Bertholdt’s medicine is most effective, but we all can do everything. Ride on the wind and that kind of thing.”

“So…can that take you over the ocean?”

“Not that far. I’m here until I figure out how to get onto one of those noisy damn…what’s the right word? Airplane? Jet?”

She smiled. “Depends on which one you get on. Do you think you can handle being in a small metal tube for half a day or more?”

“Probably. Maybe if I had someone there to keep me from getting bored.”

“That’s a bit of a big thing to ask. Would I be housing you back in the states?”

“Temporarily,” Annie said, shrugging. “I can give you fortune and luck as payment.” She shrugged again, and quietly added, “Maybe some company.”

Mikasa smiled and gingerly reached out to take Annie’s hand. Nothing sparked to strike at Annie; they only felt warmth in their palms.

“Can we do that kiss again?” Mikasa asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Annie said. She turned and stood on her toes as Mikasa caught her shoulders and leaned down. The kiss still sparked inside their mouths and against their lips. They parted slowly. Annie smiled tentatively. “I think I’d like to give you that company.”

Mikasa thought a moment longer, and then smiled in return. She took Annie’s hand, letting the energy she could still feel unwind from her fingers to circle around Annie’s hand. “I’d be interested to see what you get up to in the states.”

Annie chuckled. “I’m interested in seeing what _you_ deal with now that you’re awake as a medium.”

She blinked. “Please help me with that.”

“Sure,” Annie said. She tugged Mikasa’s hand along. “Come on. I’d like to have a late breakfast and hear about where we’d go.”

Mikasa chuckled and followed her lead. “I can do that.” She looked at Annie for a moment. “Do you have a last name? It’ll be easier to travel with one.”

“Leonhardt.”

She mulled it over, and then smiled. “It’s a pretty name.”

Annie looked at her with a faint smile. “Thanks. I’m glad you blocked my blade.” She squeezed her hand, and they headed back out toward the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The three other _kama itachi_ are Nile Dok, Hitch, and Boris from the MP. Because I can.


End file.
